To think that we should be able to buy antibiotics accross the counter like a good number of other countries

[Carollocking]

Why do we need to go through the rigmarole of doctors just to get an antibiotic when we know what we need.
What reason is there to prevent us access to them without seeing a doctor.
I know we're not the only country like this but there are plenty of places you can just buy them at the chemist.

Interesting answers,no one has answered my question about some country's you can just buy them and others you can't? So why do those country's think there citizens are sensible enough yet here they deem us not to be.

hatesummer a 'superbug' is just any bacteria that's become antibiotic resistant. So, yes, there have been increasing numbers of superbugs over the last 30-odd years. Most recently a couple strains of gonorrhea I believe - used to bensure treatable with a course of antibiotics, now involve a hospital stay and potentially fatal complications.
So what's your point? That because it's been going on for 30 years we might as well just accept it?

I dont disagree with some comments of course but I find it interesting why some countries are totally ok about them and others not

Interesting answers,no one has answered my question about some country's you can just buy them and others you can't? So why do those country's think there citizens are sensible enough yet here they deem us not to be.

Because we don't just mindlessly do everything that every other country does. I mean, you could ask that question about all sorts of things - Why does the UK government clear up our rubbish and in some countries they just throw it in the river? Why do we let every child go to school but in some countries you have to pay?
Not every country does things the same way, and not all government policies work for peoples benefit. I don't understand why this is a question

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I was watching something on TV recently and an expert on antibiotics was saying that antibiotoc resistance is the worlds biggest threat to humans, in his opinion. Way riskier than war, global warming etc.

I guess those other countries aren't seeing the bigger picture like with 100s of other issues that face the world e.g human rights, women's rights and kids of other topics.

The reason you can is simply because they're less regulated countries. That doesn't mean it's better however. As stated by a PP a lot of these countries are starting to change their laws regarding this too for the reasons given to you, and it's definitely about time they do.

Even if you did know the right antibiotic then there is the chance that people would take the self medicating too far so that patterns of repeat infections or symptoms of something more would be missed.

I know exactly which antibiotic is needed when ds has a chest infection, and actually often his consultant will prescribe it without seeing it because he presents in such a set way with an infection that it is easy to diagnose. I still wouldn't medicate without it being recorded and authorised by a medical professional

I'm a GP. most of my patients would take antibiotics for the slightest sniffle and sore throat. It's a stupid idea, whether here or abroad.

In many of these countries you still have a difference between prescribed antibiotics and OTC antibiotics.

Which suggests to me that making them available OTC is a money making ploy as people will feel they are getting a bug that needs AB's, buy them and take them when actually they have a virus and their body is fighting off the infection normally.

Quite a few places are changing the availability of OTC antibiotics due to resistance issues.

OP, some countries are less sensible about a whole lot of things.Some allow absolutely lethal pesticides or free access to guns. That doesn't mean their lax attitudes don't cause demonstrable harm. Some countries' lawmakers care more about money-making potential than about world health.

OP because all country's governments and health authorities are not equal. Fact.

Maybe we should be able to buy guns over the counter like some other countries?

which countries? most that i know of need prescriptions

www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/antibiotic-resistance/en/

Or not allow women to drive - like in Saudi Arabia?

Fatuous argument - some countries do it so why don't we!

My colleague is from a country where you can buy them over the counter, she used to get them sent over and even though she is incredibly bright was taking them for normal colds. I think there probably is/was a lack of proper information.

In the last couple of years she has reassessed the situation (after a gentle nudge from me and some proper reading around) and now won't take them unless a doctor deems it necessary.

DD has primary immune deficiency and needs daily antibiotics to survive. She has now had a few serious resistant strains of bacterial infection, which have required use of the intravenous 'reserve' antibiotics, and that is terribly concerning when it's your little girl.
Unfortunately, I see a lot of ignorance surrounding antibiotics. Parents thinking that every cough and cold needs a trip to the doctor, and I'm sure GP's often feel pressured into prescribing medicines that are not necessarily required. The vast majority of childhood illnesses are caused by self limiting viruses, and it would be a tragedy for human kind to even think about self dispensing in this way!

If antibiotics were readily available over the counter, then there would be the temptation by some people to take them as freely as paracetamol. There would be no way to control how many and how often a person would be taking antibiotics if administered this way.

Public Health England have been running a campaign since 2014 to reduce how often antibiotics are prescribed and are calling for members of the public and healthcare professionals to become antibiotic guardians info is here:

antibioticguardian.com

In general, we take as gospel what we are told by doctors and chemists and take the drug prescribed. So when I was in China a little more than 10 years ago, I went to the chemist and they gave me what transpired to be an antibiotic. I wanted lopermaride for the runs. Obviously I couldn't read the writing and there was no English translation and I took them and unsurprisingly it did nothing for my bowels. This was just one case and one visit to a chemist. If this is a regular occurrence, who knows how many unnecessary doses of antibiotics are being prescribed? No, far too dangerous and will only go to increase antibiotic resistance, which is becoming an issue.

Stoning peole to death is OK in other countries. Selling little girls to perverted old men for marriage is OK in other countries. Making women sleep in huts away from the community when menstruating is OK in other countries. Executing someone for disagreeing with the government/ruler is OK in other countries. Executing someone for being homosexual is OK in other countries. Chopping off farmers heads to obtain their land is OK in other countries. Connecting your electric supply directly to the grid (ie bypassing the transformer to step down the voltage) is OK in other countries.

Just because another country does something it doesn't mean it's a good idea. WHO actively campaign for the reduction in use of antibiotics because they can see a future in our lifetime where antibiotics become useless and we'll be just as badly off as we were prior to their invention. But what do they know, they're only some of the cleverest people in the field of medicine who spend their lives dedicated to promoting good health messages

I haven't travelled the world but I'm not actually aware of any countries where you can just buy antibiotics over the counter willy-nilly. Which countries are you thinking of? Which antibiotics can you buy over the counter in those countries (you know there's a huge range of them for different illnesses)?

In answer to your question, the reason not to allow them to be bought over the counter is just because antibiotic resistant bacteria might represent the most significant threat to, you know, human survival that we face. Nothing major though.

I find it interesting why some countries are totally ok about them and others not

Some countries are ok about stoning homosexuals and adulterers.
Some countries have a better welfare system.
Some countries educate their children differently to us.
Some countries marry girls off at 13.

You can guarantee that some people will take them as though they are smarties. We need to protect the antibiotics we have now before they become ineffective.

The World Health Organisation has described growing anti-biotic resistance as an impending global disaster and you think you should be able to wander into a pharmacy and demand antibiotics when you have self-diagnosed your (most likely viral) illness. Well go ahead and knock yourself out.