Bhubaneswar: Following the instruction of the Union Health Ministry, the State Government today asked heads of all healthcare institutions and chief district medical officers to mention reason or justification while prescribing anti-microbials to patients.
Health and Family Welfare Secretary Shalini Pandit today wrote a letter to all health directors, superintendents of Government & private medical colleges and Chief District Medical & Public Health Officers (CDM&PHOs) in this regard.
“Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) puts many of the gains of modern medicine at risk and threatens the effective prevention and treatment of infections caused by resistant microbes, resulting in prolonged illness and greater risk of death,” Shrimati Pandit said.
Treatment failures also lead to longer periods of infectivity and prohibitively high cost of the second-line drugs may result in failure to treat the disease in many individuals, she said.
Misuse and overuse of anti-microbials is one of the main drivers in the emergence of drug-resistant pathogens. With few new antibiotics in the research & development pipeline, prudent antibiotic use is the only option to delay the development of resistance, the Secretary said.
She said that the doctors at Medical Colleges and peripheral health institutions set an example of judicious use of antibiotics for the next generation of doctors who will face this crisis in a much more severe form. While pharmacists are being reminded to implement the schedule-II and III of the Drugs and Cosmetic Rules and sell antibiotics only on valid prescriptions, it is important that all doctors have to mention the exact indication on their prescriptions while prescribing anti-microbials.
She requested the health officers to circulate this letter to all doctors working in the medical colleges (both Govt.& private) and peripheral health institutions with an instruction to strictly follow the above guidelines of Government of India and to mandatorily mention exact indication, reason and justification while prescribing anti-microbials for interest of the public.
