India has become the world’s largest consumer of antibiotics, with its use rising from eight billion units in 2001 to 12.9 billion units in 2010. One of the study’s authors, Ramanan Laxminarayan, told the Times of India newspaper that on average every one of India’s 1.2 billion people consumes 11 antibiotic tablets a year. However, Indians still trail Americans, who pop 22 antibiotic pills a year on average.
Laxminarayan said the good news is that Indians have increased access to life-saving drugs. “However, the massive increase in use is leading to increases in drug resistance,” he said.
