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News:According to a study by the researchers of Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), antibiotic prescription rate is high in the private sector.
Facts:
About the study:
- This study is the first ever estimate of outpatient antibiotic prescription rates and patterns in the private sector.
- It has been published with the title — “Outpatient antibiotic prescription rate and pattern in the private sector in India”.
Key takeaways from the study:
- The private sector has clocked high levels of antibiotic prescription rates (412 per 1,000 persons per year).
- Of the 519 million antibiotic prescriptions,the majority were dispensed for the diseases of the respiratory system(55%).
- The highest rate was seen among children aged 0–4 years (636 per 1,000 persons) and the lowest in the age group 10–19 years (280 per 1,000 persons).
- The percentage of prescriptions for wide-spectrum antibiotics like cephalosporins and quinolones was significantly higher than the U.S. and Greece.
Additional information:
About Antibiotic resistance:
- It is the ability of a microorganism like bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites to stop an antimicrobial such as antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals and antimalarial from working against it.The term antibiotic resistance specifically covers resistance to antibiotics.
- As a result, the medicines become ineffective and infections persist in the body, increasing the risk of spread to others.
- India is considered to be one of the top users of antibiotics and there is a growing problem of antimicrobial resistance.
- The per capita antibiotic consumption in the retail sector has increased by around 22% in five years from 2012 to 2016.
