According to a government report, Australia is losing the fight against infections that are resistant to drugs.
According to the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care’s report, which was released on Thursday, the bacteria that cause gonorrhea, gastroenteritis, and golden staph infections are becoming more and more resistant to the antibiotics used to treat them. This phenomenon is known as antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Australia still has one of the highest rates of antibiotic consumption in the developed world, despite a 19% decrease in use between 2019 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the report.
According to the research, one-third of Australians received a prescription for at least one course of antibiotics in 2022.
AMR is one of the top 10 global public health threats, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), and by 2050, it may claim the lives of 10 million people annually worldwide.
Australia had a chance to benefit from the decline in antibiotic use during the pandemic, according to a statement from John Turnidge, a senior medical advisor for the Commission. However, he urged physicians to be more prudent when writing prescriptions.
“We have an opportunity to build on this achievement to tackle one of the most serious health challenges of our time,” he stated.
“Antibiotics can save your life, so we should preserve them to treat life-threatening conditions – but we must not forget that they can also cause significant harm.”
According to the report, in 2022, 23 percent of antibiotic prescriptions in hospital settings were deemed inappropriate, while 35 percent of prescriptions in aged care settings were given as a precaution.
It was discovered that, despite their lack of benefit, antibiotics were prescribed in 80% of community cases of acute bronchitis.
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