Chinanews, Beijing, April 14 - Statistics show that half of the inpatients in China have been given antibiotics for treatment of their ailments, while the figure in other countries is only 30%, which fact indicates that there is the medication safety problem to be addressed in China.

 

"Antibiotics are perhaps the most frequently used drugs in China, and they are much more expensive than in developed countries, compared with the income of Chinese and Westerners," said Wang Rui, the director of the Institute of Pharmaceutical Clinical Pharmacology of the PLA General Hospital, and a member of the Antibiotics Professional Committee of the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

 

"The abuse of antibiotics is not only a waste of medical resources, but it will also enhance bacteria's resistance to drugs, not to mention that antibiotics are poisonous as they might lead to fungal infection," said Wang.

 

The main reason for hospitals to abuse antibiotics is profit. It is said that 80% of drugs in China are sold via hospitals, and antibiotics, with mature production technology, can usually generate considerable profit. Furthermore, many patients are misguided by ads, and trust antibiotics blindly, without knowing whether antibiotics can help them or not.