Chinese hospitals have reduced their use of antibiotics by 40 percent after the nation's top health authority undertook measures to regulate their use.  

These regulatory measures included the government's tighter control over the public's access to antibiotics, overhauling the system used by hospitals to dispense drugs, and the stricter monitoring of cases of antibiotic resistance, China Daily reported.

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"The Chinese government recognized the challenges and implemented measures starting in 2012 to tackle that," explained Xiao Yonghong, a professor at the Institute of Clinical Pharmacology at Peking University.

Xiao, who is also member of the Rational Drug Use Committee of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, noted the significant drop in the Chinese hospitals' use of antibiotics, as he cited the national surveillance network of drug use that links major hospitals nationwide.

According to a recent global review conducted by a medical team headed by Britain's Lord Jim O'Neill, antibiotic resistance could result in one million premature deaths annually in China if left unaddressed.

Anti-microbial resistance could in fact claim the lives of around 10 million people a year worldwide, the equivalent of one person every three second, which is more than the number of those who succumb to cancer.

The study further pointed out that anti-microbial drugs are becoming less effective, and the world is not quick in developing new drugs that will address the growing concern of antibiotic resistance .

"China could suffer an enormous loss of GDP because of that," noted O'Neill, who headed the team that reviewed the Chinese hospitals' use of antibiotics.

The findings of the review team's research were also corroborated by Huang Liuyu, director of the Institute for Disease Prevention and Control of the People's Liberation Army.

Huang said that there is a chance that excessive antibiotic residue can be passed on to humans through meat consumption, and increasing the possibility of people developing antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotic resistance happens when a microbe evolves into a different strain, and becomes stronger or fully resistant to the anti-microbials that were previously used to treat it.

Findings of the review showed that China is world's biggest market of antibiotics, consuming about half of the volume of drugs sold worldwide. 

Of this volume, 48 percent are used to treat people, while the rest are utilized by the agricultural sector.

It is hoped that with these more stringent government regulations, Chinese hospitals will be able to curb the excessive use of antibiotics. 

TagsChinese Hospitals, Antibiotic Use, china