Dr. Olufemi Lawani, Medical Microbiologist, at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), on Thursday, raised alarm on the abuse and misuse of antibiotic drugs.

Lawani rated Nigeria as the second country amongst the most prevalent in the use of antibiotic prescription drugs.

He stated this in his paper presentation entitled: “Antibiotic resistance and the prescription pattern of medical practitioners: The nexus and the implications”.

The expert spoke at the Annual General Meeting of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Kwara chapter.

He explained that excessive use of antibiotics promotes resistance, which prevents effective treatment of infections, adding that antibiotic resistance has become a global pandemic.

According to him, some Nigerians use antibiotics indiscriminately, not realizing the dangers of such actions.

He observed that antibiotic was a discovery of modern age to combat diseases.

“The pre-antibiotic era was the age before the discovery of antibiotics, where the slightest infection causes hardship and death to people.

“This was described as the apocalyptic era when people die of a simple infection.

“In spite of this great feat of modern discovery such as penicillin to combat diseases, situations suggest that overuse of antibiotics leads to resistance,” he said.

Lawani stated that antibiotics are used for opportunistic infections, post-operation infections, and also as prophylaxis, among others.

He postulated that the inventor of penicillin, Alexander Fleming, has sadly predicted a future where there will be an abuse of antibiotics, which will lead to resistance.

The expert in medical microbiology warns that civilization must not regress back into the apocalyptic era, where diseases and infections cause mass deaths.

He lamented that this will be an end to modern medicine, adding that people must be careful of the resistance to antibiotics because this is a race against time.

“Some of the problems is the availability of over-the-counter medication without a prescription, poverty, poor adherence, and use of sub-standard drugs,” he said.

Lawani pointed out that people have the misconception that antibiotic cures all ailments, while some health workers prescribe it indiscriminately.

“Regulatory agencies such as NAFDAC are not doing much to regulate this menace,” he said.

He, therefore, called for engagement in the principle of antibiotic stewardship, adding that it is a multidisciplinary effort involving doctors, pharmacists, nurses, and regulatory agencies to fight the indiscriminate use of antibiotics.

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“This will protect patients from toxicity, enhancing prevention and control, surveillance of drug resistance,” he said.

Lawani also urged medical practitioners to play a central role by enhancing the principle of culture-based understanding of prescription patterns and use them wisely.