Why pharma companies, healthcare providers are campaigning against misuse of miracle drugs?

With life-saving antibiotics losing their effectiveness against bacterial infections and the alarming rise in deaths linked to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) globally, pharmaceutical companies and infectious disease experts are launching urgent campaigns to curb the misuse of these miracle drugs.

“After seeing the extraordinary effects of antibiotics in the past, pharmaceutical companies began unethical marketing campaigns, pushing for more sales without regard for the long-term consequences,” explained Prof Shahzad Ali Khan, vice chancellor of the Health Services Academy (HSA), at a recent training workshop for health journalists in Karachi, organised by Commsman Consultants.

“Physicians, surgeons, and even quacks began prescribing these medicines irrationally to deliver quick results, often in just a few days. This has led to a culture of self-medication, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, where people have come to believe that antibiotics are a cure-all.”

But as options for fighting life-threatening infections dwindle due to AMR, antibiotic manufacturers, physicians, public health experts, and organisations like the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are now calling for limiting the use of these drugs to prevent them from becoming completely ineffective.

“Antibiotics have saved millions of lives since their introduction. They’ve drastically reduced maternal and child mortality, prevented post-surgical infections, and fought off countless bacterial diseases. But their miraculous effects have also led to widespread misuse and abuse, creating one of the most critical health challenges of our time—antimicrobial resistance,” said Prof Khan.

AMR occurs when bacteria become resistant to the antibiotics designed to kill them. Over the years, as these drugs have been overused and misused, bacteria have evolved, rendering many antibiotics ineffective. This is especially problematic in countries where antibiotics are used excessively without prescription or proper medical guidance.

In these regions, antibiotics are often taken without a prescription, contributing to rampant misuse. Prof Khan highlighted that antibiotics, which are intended to fight bacterial infections, are now being incorrectly used to treat viral illnesses like the common cold and flu. This irrational use is exacerbating the growing threat of AMR.

“Doctors often prescribe antibiotics empirically or as a preventive measure against infections,” Prof Khan continued. “Even worse, unqualified practitioners —quacks—prescribe last-resort antibiotics, reserved for the most severe cases. This reckless practice has accelerated the rise of resistant bacteria.”

The consequences are devastating. The world is witnessing the emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis, extensively drug-resistant (XDR) typhoid, and pan-drug-resistant (PDR) sepsis—where no antibiotics are effective. These superbugs pose a significant threat, leading to increased deaths from infections that were once easily treatable.

Prof Khan emphasized that the lack of new antibiotics since 1986 has made the situation even more dire. “No new class of antibiotics has been invented in decades, and we are now relying on combinations of existing drugs. The options for doctors and pharmaceutical companies are shrinking as resistance spreads.”

The result? Once-powerful antibiotics that revolutionised medicine are becoming obsolete. “Many famous antibiotic brands have vanished from the market because they’re no longer effective against bacterial infections,” Prof Khan added.

The rise of AMR has set off alarm bells worldwide, prompting organisations like the WHO and CDC to campaign against the irrational use of antibiotics. Pharmaceutical companies are also worried. As new antibiotics are not being developed and the existing ones are becoming less effective, sales will inevitably drop.

“Pharmaceutical companies know that if antibiotics continue to lose their effectiveness, doctors will stop prescribing them. This is why they are now joining the push for rational use,” said Prof Khan.

However, he noted that there is still hope. If a class of antibiotics is not used in a region for several years, it may regain its effectiveness against bacteria. “The key to controlling AMR is limiting and rationalising antibiotic use,” Prof Khan explained. “If we use antibiotics judiciously, we can preserve their power to save lives.”

The misuse of antibiotics extends beyond human medicine. Prof Khan pointed out that antibiotics are widely used in livestock and poultry, where they are employed to promote growth and prevent disease. “When humans consume meat from animals treated with antibiotics, they can be exposed to resistant bacteria, further exacerbating the AMR crisis.”

This excessive antibiotic use in agriculture is a major driver of AMR, transferring resistant bacteria from animals to humans and increasing the global burden of resistant infections.

The global health community is now rallying around the call for rational antibiotic use. “The time to act is now,” Prof Khan urged. “We must foster a culture where antibiotics are used only when absolutely necessary, with proper prescriptions and under medical supervision.”

While the world faces a future where once-treatable infections could become deadly again, there is hope if immediate steps are taken. “The miracle of antibiotics is one we can’t afford to lose. Rational use, awareness, and strict regulation are our best weapons in this battle against AMR,” Prof Khan concluded. “The message is clear: as the threat of AMR looms larger, the world must unite to save the very drugs that once saved us.”

Dr Obaidullah, director of Quality Assurance at the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan, mentioned that some leading ethical pharmaceutical companies are increasingly concerned about the growing issue of antimicrobial resistance in Pakistan. As a result, these companies are focusing on raising awareness among physicians and surgeons.

“AMR is closely linked to the ethical marketing of drugs. The companies that follow ethical marketing practices are addressing this issue by educating healthcare professionals and the general public about the misuse of antibiotics,” Dr Obaidullah explained.

Dr Salman, chief executive officer of the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad, shared that the institute is currently working on the second phase of the National Action Plan for AMR, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

He emphasized the need for government and donor funding to ensure the effective implementation of this plan, which includes monitoring the use of antibiotics across healthcare, poultry, and other sectors.

“There is a severe lack of awareness about AMR among the general public, healthcare professionals, and even within the scientific community in Pakistan,” Dr Salman warned, underscoring the importance of educational campaigns to address this knowledge gap.