Draft Guidelines On Usage Of Antibiotics Released

Kerala health minister V S Sivakumar, released a draft guidelines on usage of antibiotics at the national symposium on antibiotics stewardship, infection control, held in Kochi. "Kerala is one of the states, where the usage of antibiotics is very high. Hence, monitoring methods like prescription and auditing should be implemented. The government would soon announce an antibiotic policy for the state," he said.

To stop emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance, 12 associations including IMA, IAP, government doctors associations, resolved to implement the four Rs Right Drug, Right Dose, Right Duration and Right Frequency of rational antimicrobial prescription in their hospitals and community at large.

The core body of professionals along with government officials, which had been meeting to draft the guidelines will now review the implementation based on the reports from the associations and hospitals.

Health secretary K El langovan, said, “The government was planning to introduce antisepsis programme in 32 government hospitals, which have 300500 beds. This will set the stage for bringing in infection control in our institutions. Of course, much work needs to be done on ensuring cleanliness in hospitals, which as such is mandatory."

The storage of antibiotics was a major challenge in the state, where Rs 300 crore was spent on the purchase of medicines, he added.

The IMA president Dr A V Jayakrishnan said that to implement the antibiotic program successfully; a four-pronged strategy should be used including campaigning, training, research and legislation. "As of now, hospitals that have an NABH accreditation have to develop a hospital antibiogram (usage of antibiotics) and follow the protocol in primary, secondary and tertiary care."



Source-Medindia