- Currently, China has established itself as the world leader in antibiotic production.
- The excessive consumption of antibiotics has generated phenomena such as drug resistance.
- If the same trend continues, infections such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, septicemia, gonorrhea and others could be impossible to treat in the future.
To deal with various diseases there are different ways of healing. In ancient times the only option was to resort to naturist methods but now it is different. The invention of medicines completely revolutionized daily life. Within this group of drugs are the antibiotics and although they are distributed throughout the world, some countries stand out because they are the main producers.
What do antibiotics work for?
First of all, it is necessary to consult the definition offered by the World Health Organization (WHO). Antibiotics are medications used to prevent and treat bacterial infections. Since their invention they have worked to cure millions of people and prevent an immeasurable number of deaths.
However, as occurs with other aspects of life, excessive consumption is harmful and has generated phenomena such as antimicrobial resistance.
In this case, it is the bacteria, and not humans or animals, that become antibiotic resistant. These drug-resistant bacteria can cause infections in humans and animals, and these infections are more difficult to treat than other infections.
Based on the above, resistance to antibiotics increases medical costs, lengthens hospital stays and increases mortality.
Dire outlook for the future
For its part, the antibiotic resistance It is a serious problem that increases every year. Day after day, new mechanisms appear and spread throughout the planet, jeopardizing the ability to treat common infectious diseases.
A growing number of infections, such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, sepsis, gonorrhea and foodborne diseases, are becoming more difficult—and sometimes impossible—to treat as antibiotics become less effective.
If urgent action is not taken, the world is headed for a post-antibiotic era in which many common infections and minor injuries will once again become life-threatening. For this reason, some countries such as Mexico have chosen to require a prescription to be able to buy medicines of this type.
The largest producers of antibiotics
Now, with respect to the present, some countries stand out from the rest because they are the major producers of antibiotics in the world. The most striking case is that of China because it has established itself as the undisputed leader.
Based on data from International Trade Center (ITC) that were replicated by Statistical, the Asian giant exports 42.4 percent of the antibiotics consumed in the world. In this way, almost half of the drugs of this type were designed in China.
While Italy, India and Switzerland are the following nations that appear in this category of the main world exporters of antibiotics. To see the rest of the list, you can consult the following graph prepared by the editorial team of salutary.