STORY: Report calls on Australia to reduce antibiotic use amid rise in drug-resistant infections
SHOOTING TIME: Nov. 17, 2023
DATELINE: Nov. 16, 2023
LENGTH: 00:00:41
LOCATION: Canberra
CATEGORY: HEALTH

SHOTLIST:
1. various of pharmacies in Canberra

STORYLINE:

Australia is losing the war against drug-resistant infections, a government report has warned.
   
The report, published on Thursday by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, found that bacteria that cause golden staph infections, gastroenteritis and gonorrhea are growing increasingly resistant to the antibiotic drugs that treat them - a phenomenon known as antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
   
According to the report, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a 19 percent drop in antibiotic use in Australia between 2019 and 2022, but the country still has one of the highest consumption rates in the developed world.
   
In 2022, one-third of Australians were given a prescription for at least one round of antibiotics, the report said
   
The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified AMR as one of the top 10 global public health threats and estimates that AMR could kill 10 million people globally every year by 2050.
   
John Turnidge, a senior medical advisor for the Commission, said in a statement that Australia had an opportunity to capitalize on the downward trend of antibiotic use during the pandemic but called on doctors to become smarter about prescribing medications.
   
"We have an opportunity to build on this achievement to tackle one of the most serious health challenges of our time," he said.
   
"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."
   
The report deemed that 23 percent of antibiotic prescriptions in hospital settings in 2022 were inappropriate and that 35 percent given in aged care settings were precautionary.
   
It found that 80 percent of acute bronchitis cases in the community were given antibiotics despite no benefit. 

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Canberra.
(XHTV)