Superbugs will 'kill every three seconds'

[happyslug]

50. What is needed is to legalized over the counter Penicillin.

Penicillin was the first Antibiotic, it had been used in cattle since the 1940s to fatten them (Antibiotics kill various "bugs" in cattle. Those "Bugs" do not affect cattle or people, except in cattle the "bugs" use up a lot of feed that the cattle would have to put on fat and meat, thus getting rid of them permit Cattle to get fat sooner using less feed and thus increases profits).

Penicillin and Tetracycline (Invented 1954, it was the first Antibiotic effective against long term Syphilis, for Tetracycline can enter the water barrier around the brain, Penicillin and Sulfa Drugs could not) are more and more marginal. Legalized them for people who want an Antibiotic over the counter, this includes use in pets and cattle and other animals.

The rest of the Antibiotics should be restricted to Human and prescription only. The less such drugs are used, the less chance that a "bug" will grow immune to it.

Countries with no national medical programs (such as China and the US) would be required to adopt such a program so that people who are sick can afford to go to a doctor to get a prescription (I recently read an article about doctors giving free medical care to various people, most had "Medical Insurance" but could NOT pay the co-pay to get the Medical Care, which is the same as having no medical care). The lack of adequate affordable medical care is one of the reason China permits over the counter antibiotic sales.

Side note: Russia is a special case when it comes to medical care. From the 1920s till the 1960s, its medical care was equal to the west, but deteriorated after about 1965, do to serious under-investment in infrastructure (Many Hospitals did not even have X-ray machines till after 2000 for example). With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the system went from bad to worse. Starting with Putin becoming President in 1999, the situation has slowly improved. At present Russia is going from the remains of the Soviet System of all medical care being state organization (All doctors were state employees), to a system where medical providers are private operations, but everyone is covered by state mandated health insurance paid by their employer through taxation (Much like the Medicare program in the US). Please note the Hospitals in Russia are all state owned, but instead of looking for direct government support, they are relying on payments through the State health insurance system.

The problems with Russia health care also goes to most members of the Former Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. For Example the Russia system being adopted is very similar to the system presently being used in Poland. East Germany seems to be the only exception, for the medical system in what was East Germany was just an extension of the previous West German System (which is based on employer paid health insurance, which like Poland covers 98% of the population).

Polish Health System:

http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/163053/e96443.pdf