Many people begin taking antibiotics on their own whenever they catch a cold, fever, or cough, without consulting a doctor. However, this casual habit has now turned into a serious public health threat. General physician Dr. Vinod Nagarale has warned that multidrug-resistant bacteria are increasing rapidly across the country. If timely precautions are not taken, even minor infections could become life-threatening. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also expressed deep concern over antibiotic resistance during his Mann Ki Baat address, urging citizens to avoid self-medication and to use antibiotics only under medical supervision.
According to a recent report, multidrug-resistant organisms have been detected in as many as 83 percent of patients in India, creating alarm within the healthcare sector. Despite this, many people still resort to antibiotics for common ailments like fever, cold, cough, or body pain. In most cases, these illnesses are viral in nature, where antibiotics offer no benefit. Frequent and unnecessary use allows bacteria to adapt and grow stronger, reducing the effectiveness of commonly used medicines. As a result, infections that were once easily treatable are now becoming increasingly difficult to manage.
Doctors are now often forced to prescribe higher doses or more expensive medicines because older antibiotics no longer work effectively. Reports indicate that nearly six out of ten patients do not experience the expected improvement after taking standard antibiotics. Even serious conditions such as pneumonia and urinary tract infections sometimes do not respond to treatment. This growing resistance is making routine medical care more complicated and risky. Experts warn that continued misuse could push the healthcare system into a crisis where life-saving drugs lose their power, leaving doctors with limited options to treat severe infections.
In Mann Ki Baat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi clearly stated that antibiotics should never be taken without a doctor’s advice, as today’s misuse can create tomorrow’s disaster. Overuse increases bacterial resistance, raises the risk of allergies and stomach disorders, and makes future infections harder to cure. Antibiotics should be used only for bacterial infections, strictly as prescribed, and for the full duration advised by doctors. Dr. Vinod Nagarale emphasized that antibiotics are not a miracle cure for all illnesses, warning that incorrect use for minor ailments today could endanger lives tomorrow.