France, nine years after the launch of the antibiotic conscious prescription campaign, is still one of the biggest consumers of antibiotics in Europe, reports the WHO in its newsletter.
Too frequent use of antibiotics leads to the development of resistant bacterial strains and may end up in a situation where the patient will not be helped by any antibiotics, even with a slight infection.
In 2002, when the French National Health Insurance launched a campaign against the automatic prescription of these drugs in France, France consumed more antibiotics than any country in Europe. The campaign set itself the goal of reducing the amount of antibiotics prescribed by 25 percent. in 5 years.
The French National Health Insurance program followed a government initiative called Keep Antibiotics Working to promote rapid Streptococcus testing and a procedure for doctors.
The French National Health Insurance campaign cut 26,5 percent on schedule. amount of prescribed antibiotics. However, France did not get rid of the problem completely. As prof. Benoit Schlemmer, chairman of the Keep Antibiotics Working committee: We rewrite 50 percent. more antibiotics than the European average. Half of the prescriptions for these drugs are issued without justification.
The French blame this situation on the doctors’ remuneration system, where their income depends on the number of patients they see. Time is money and the truth is that it is easier to prescribe an antibiotic than spend half an hour explaining to the patient why he does not need it, explains Prof. Schlemmer.
Telling patients to go back to their doctor if their condition doesn’t improve doesn’t work. The sick person will sooner go to another specialist who will write down what he wants than return to the specialist who did not cure him the first time, says Dr. Alban Pinay, a general practitioner.
The French are currently using the golden mean and writing out two prescriptions: one for non-antibiotic drugs, and the other for an antibiotic that must be taken in case the first drug fails. Despite this, patients often choose an antibiotic, taught that it works faster and more effectively.
Prof. John Conly of the Center for Antimicrobial Resistance of the University of Calgary in Canada says the antibiotic oversupply is not just a problem for France. It is a question of human nature, he believes. (PAP)