QUESTION 13
GS3
12.5 marks
Can overuse and free availability of antibiotics without a doctor’s prescription contribute to emergence of drug-resistant diseases in India? What mechanisms are available for monitoring and control? Critically discuss the issues involved.
WRITE IN
9 min
200 words
What the examiner wants
Critically discuss how over-the-counter antibiotics drive drug resistance in India and how well monitoring works.
Critically discussAnswer exactly what the question asks.
Demand-wise check
- 1Yes, it contributes: OTC sales, self-medication, incomplete courses, irrational fixed-dose combinations, prescriptions for viral illness≈35 words
- 2Other drivers: antibiotics in poultry and livestock growth, pharma effluents (Hyderabad cluster), hospital infections, poor sanitation≈35 words
- 3Monitoring and control: Schedule H1, NAP-AMR (2017), ICMR AMRSN surveillance, Kerala's state plan, ban on colistin as growth promoter (2019), Red Line campaign≈35 words
- 4Issues: weak enforcement among chemists, informal practitioners, lack of diagnostics, access vs excess dilemma≈35 words
Open in about 30 words and close in about 30.
Answer plan
AMR explainedHow OTC use drives itOther drivers (One Health)MechanismsGapsWay forward
Where marks usually go
- Ignoring the access problem: many Indians still lack needed antibiotics
- Missing animal and environmental sources
Draw this
- One Health triangle (human, animal, environment) with AMR drivers in each
Value addition
- PolicySchedule H1 (2014) requires a separate register of sales for third and fourth generation antibiotics and anti-TB drugs.Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 2014
- PolicyColistin was banned for use in food-producing animals and feed in 2019.MoHFW, 2019
- DataBacterial AMR was directly responsible for about 1.27 million deaths worldwide in 2019.Lancet GRAM study, 2022
Next: plan for one minute, write it in 9 minutes, then get it checked.