Kathmandu, June 1 -- When Dawa Gurung started feeling an almost unbearable pain in her abdomen and a burning sensation whenever she urinated, she knew her urinary tract infection had returned. But since it had happened before, Gurung knew exactly what she had to do-head to a local pharmacy, tell the shopkeeper her symptoms and get some antibiotics. It was all routine.

But a few months ago, during one such recurrence, the antibiotics failed to relieve her symptoms. Even after Gurung completed the full antibiotic course, the abdominal pain and burning sensations persisted. That was when Gurung headed to the hospital. Her test results showed that the bacteria causing her infection had developed a resistance to the antibiotics she was taking...