Savior becoming a threat, but that is preventable

The problem is complex. But the good news is that there are concrete actions we can all take to address it: governments, doctors and patients.

Within the health system, rational and appropriate use of antibiotics is crucial-which the Chinese government has been promoting with a nationwide campaign launched in 2011, with impressive results. It is also essential that health-financing systems do not create incentives for doctors to over-prescribe.

Doctors must only prescribe and dispense antibiotics when they are truly needed, and give clear instructions to ensure correct use. All health workers can reduce demand for antibiotics by encouraging their patients to get vaccinated against infectious diseases, and by practicing simple hygiene to reduce infections in the first place.

Patients can help by not demanding that doctors prescribe a course of antibiotics when they may not be necessary. And when antibiotics are prescribed, patients should always carefully follow the doctor's instructions, take the full course, and never reserve antibiotics for use later or share with others.

If those doctors who first discovered penicillin visited a hospital today, they would see that antibiotics have become indispensable to modern medicine. If all of us play our part, we can help to ensure that this remains the case now and in the future.

The author is the World Health Organization representative in China.