抗生素滥用 (kangshengsu lonyong): Antibiotics abuse

The Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry under the Chinese Academy of Sciences has released a 10-year study of China's antibiotics usage and discharge. The study shows that abuse of antibiotics is common in China.

Antibiotics discharge in major rivers in eastern China is much higher than that of rivers in the western region. In some rivers the density of antibiotics is 10 times higher than the standard level of Western countries.

In 2013, China's overall antibiotics usage was 162,000 tons. Chinese doctors are more likely to prescribe antibiotics due to pressure from patients, and some small medical institutions encourage doctors to prescribe antibiotics to prevent medical risks. In addition, antibiotics can be easily bought in a pharmacy in some small cities and countryside, which also promotes the abuse of antibiotics.

Furthermore, antibiotics are used more frequently in China's livestock breeding industry for the purpose of reducing costs and pursuing profits.

However, the abuse of antibiotics may result in super-bacteria which endanger all human beings.

As a country with the highest per capita antibiotics usage in the world, China should reduce its antibiotics use to a reasonable level. More importantly, a monitoring system for their use should be established and there should be a strict crackdown on antibiotics use in the livestock industry, in order to effectively curb antibiotics overuse.