Local GP Charles Boakye said he wanted to convey his medical advice about antibiotics “in a fun way”

To Kill A Superbug (left) and author Charles Boakye (right) — *To Kill A Superbug* (left) and author Charles Boakye (right)

An Enfield doctor has written a novel as a way of getting across an important health message “in a fun way”.

Charles Boakye wrote his book To Kill A Superbug in an attempt to convey his fears that the “rampant use of antibiotics” was harming people’s abilities to fight illnesses.

The Enfield-based doctor, who grew up in Ghana, works for Medicus Health Partners as a GP principal, across the many surgeries the firm runs locally.

In To Kill A Superbug, protagonist Edu Balfour is dismissed by Lamina Veterinary School on his graduation day, for cruelty to animals. When the courts exonerate him, he looks for a way to reinstate his certificate. The love of his dreams, Princess Pra, is on hand to help but Krufassa, the brother of the princess, tricks Edu to risk his life to fetch a sacred tattoo tablet for Professor Tetteh for his research into treating infections in livestock.

Unfortunately, the chief of the town has sold Edu’s father’s ancestral land which has the richest deposit of the mineral necessary for this sacred tablet. Edu’s father wants revenge for this slight but the operation spills over and leads to the kidnapping of Princess Pra and Edu.

With his life and his veterinary career in the balance, Edu escapes and, while evading recapture, searches for the princess. The journey will take him from the Sahara Desert to the Mediterranean Sea, as he discovers a whole world of medical, societal and economic issues surrounding the production and use of antibiotics to treat superbugs.

Charles explains: “The main aim is to help promote antimicrobial stewardship in the presence of ever growing threat of resistant bacteria. I want to drive home the need to combat the rampant use of antibiotics in a fun way since the attempt to give the message while a person is ill may not be ideal.

“As a GP, I am very familiar with the situation where patients come back frequently because the first or second antibiotic could not cure their infections.”

To Kill a Superbug is published by Troubador. For more information:
Visit troubador.co.uk/bookshop/contemporary/to-kill-a-superbug

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