Course: Antibiotic Resistance - The Silent Tsunami  –  Part 3

Reflection and analysis: the access-excess dilemma

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You have now been acquainted to the access-excess dilemma, which we would like you to further reflect upon.

Photo: Kelly Siikkema, Unsplash

Reflection and analysis

1. Please try to identify plausible explanations to why antibiotics are used in excess in the human health sector worldwide.

  • Are the mechanisms the same in:
    • high-income and low-income countries?
    • communities and hospitals?
  • What actions do you think must be taken to improve the situation and slow down the antibiotic resistance development?

2. Please reflect upon what importance the price and profitability of antibiotics have for patients and providers.

  • How do you think access to antibiotics and excessive use are affected by pricing?
  • What do you think the consequences will be if antibiotics are cheaper than a health-care visit or relevant clinical diagnostics?
  • What happens if antibiotics are not affordable?

3. Please consider what actions you think should be taken to improve access to antibiotics for all in need.

  • What actors and stakeholders do you think should lead this work on national and global level? Why?

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