Many people in Pakistan get antibiotics without a prescription, despite it being illegal to give the drugs out this way. And doctors often prescribe antibiotics when they aren’t required.
Bilal, 22, has just been discharged from hospital after a bout of drug-resistant typhoid. Doctors told us that typhoid was once an illness that you could cure with pills but is now leading to hospital admissions. Bilal’s typhoid could be treated only with an antibiotic called meropenem, which is reserved for the most serious infections. It is also expensive – and it sold at a price families like his struggle to afford.
Autumn Mitchell sets up a station in her room to inject local antibiotics for her drug resistant urinary tract infection at home on August 9, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Rachel Sherman poses for a portrait at home in Florence, Ariz. on Friday, August 3, 2024. She lost her first born son Oliver Lewis when he was born at 22 weeks and the hospital declined to give her an OBGYN. The staff there also told Sherman it wouldn’t save a 22-week baby and there wasn’t a neonatal unit in the U.S. that would treat an infant under 24 weeks, she recalled. But two hospitals within an hour’s drive had already treated babies at 22 weeks, The Wall Street Journal confirmed.
Across the road from a refugee settlement, six-year-old Ariba, who is Afghan, visits a charity clinic for a rash on the back of her head caused by sandworm disease. The rash developed into a wound, which became infected. The doctors tried a number of antibiotics but none of them seemed to work.
A wide view of beds with patients at GodBless by Faith Health Clinic in Makoko, Lagos on the 25th January, 2024.
A portrait of Dr. Idowu Gowon, popularly known as General Gowon, a health practitioner at his clinic in Makoko, Lagos on the 25th January, 2024.
The exterior view of GodBless by Faith Health Clinic in Makoko, Lagos on the 25th January, 2024.
A wide view of houses on stilts in Makoko, Lagos on the 25th January, 2024. Makoko is the largest informal settlement in Africa. With housese built on stilts, it is located on the Lagos lagoon.
A wide view of houses on stilts in Makoko, Lagos on the 25th January, 2024. Makoko is the largest informal settlement in Africa. With houses built on stilts, it is located on the Lagos lagoon.
A wide view of houses on stilts in Makoko, Lagos on the 25th January, 2024. Makoko is the largest informal settlement in Africa. With houses built on stilts, it is located on the Lagos lagoon.
A record showing Ayomide Adebajo's treatment and prescription history at the Massey Children's Hospital, Lagos on the 26th January, 2024.
Chiamaka Ahamba, 9 days old, is being observed by a nurse at the Massey Children's Hospital, Lagos on the 26th January, 2024. Ahamba was admitted pre-term at 26 weeks old and incubated at the hospital. To combat an infection, she was given Cefotaxime antibiotics but it didn't work at the completion of dosage so she was prescribed Meropenem. She is still currently undergoing treatment.
A nurse attends to Chiamaka Ahamba, 9 days old, at the Massey Children's Hospital, Lagos on the 26th January, 2024. Ahamba was admitted pre-term at 26 weeks old and incubated at the hospital. To combat an infection, she was given Cefotaxime antibiotics but it didn't work at the completion of dosage so she was prescribed Meropenem. She is still currently undergoing treatment.
A nurse attends to Chiamaka Ahamba, 9 days old, at the Massey Children's Hospital, Lagos on the 26th January, 2024. Ahamba was admitted pre-term at 26 weeks old and incubated at the hospital. To combat an infection, she was given Cefotaxime antibiotics but it didn't work at the completion of dosage so she was prescribed Meropenem. She is still currently undergoing treatment.
Adepeju Adebajo looks out the window as she awaits her son's discharge from the Massey Children's Hospital, Lagos on the 26th January, 2024. She was admitted pre-term at 35 weeks old and her baby was incubated at the hospital. To combat an infection, he was given Cefotaxime antibiotics but it didn't work at the completion of dosage so prescribed Meropenem. Her baby is healthy and has been taken out of the incubator, and currently awaits discharge.
Nurse Ibezim Chidozie readjusts the oxygen for Enyioha, 28 days old, at the Massey Children's Hospital, Lagos on the 26th January, 2024. Enyioha's estimated gestational age is 29 weeks. She was brought in and incubated at the hospital. To combat an infection, she was given Cefotaxime antibiotics but it didn't work at the completion of dosage so she was prescribed Meropenem. But the parents had since disappeared, and abandoned him.
A portrait of Nurse Ibezim Chidozie at the Massey Children's Hospital, Lagos on the 26th January, 2024.
A view of the in-patient department at the Massey Children's Hospital, Lagos on the 26th January, 2024.
A view of the in-patient department at the Massey Children's Hospital, Lagos on the 26th January, 2024.
Rab Dino, a local resident of Village Hussain Dafrani, Thatta, Sindh, Pakistan at an open field he calls home along with his deceased brother's children whom he cares for. (21st November, 2023)
Ameer Dino, a local resident of Village Hussain Dafrani, Thatta, Sindh, Pakistan at an open field he calls home. (21st November, 2023)
Shireen Piyar Ali, a resident of Thatta, Sindh, Pakistan, holds up her medicines at a clinic. (21st November, 2023)
Shireen Piyar Ali, a resident of Thatta, Sindh, Pakistan, with her son, Muhammad Ahan, at a clinic. (21st November, 2023)
June 12 2024. Manhattan, NY. Tamara Towbin, who suffered for years with a drug resistant UTI, posed for a portrait at her Chelsea apartment on Wednesday afternoon, and showed storage of the many drugs and devices she has had to use in the past to manage her illness. (Natalie Keyssar )
June 12 2024. Manhattan, NY. Tamara Towbin, who suffered for years with a drug resistant UTI, posed for a portrait at her Chelsea apartment on Wednesday afternoon, and showed storage of the many drugs and devices she has had to use in the past to manage her illness. (Natalie Keyssar )
Mother Hadra Nureye (25 years old) and her 14-day daughter, Usra Ahmed, at Dessie Referral Hospital.
June 12 2024. Manhattan, NY. Tamara Towbin, who suffered for years with a drug resistant UTI, posed for a portrait at her Chelsea apartment on Wednesday afternoon, and showed storage of the many drugs and devices she has had to use in the past to manage her illness. (Natalie Keyssar )
Mother Hadra Nureye (25 years old) and her 14-day daughter, Usra Ahmed, at Dessie Referral Hospital.
Mother Hadra Nureye (25 years old) and her 14-day daughter, Usra Ahmed, at Dessie Referral Hospital.
Mother Hadra Nureye (25 years old) and her 14-day daughter, Usra Ahmed, at Dessie Referral Hospital.
Mother Fatuma Musa (27 years old) and her 14-day daughter, Rahemet Ahmed, at Dessie Referral Hospital.
Mother Fatuma Musa (27 years old) and her 14-day daughter, Rahemet Ahmed, at Dessie Referral Hospital.