Govt curbs overuse of antibiotics

A recent health survey found that 90 percent of respondents were using antibiotics properly last year following a local government education campaign to curb overuse of the drugs, the city's health promotion authority announced Monday.

The survey's results show that the local government's education efforts are paying off, said Gu Xiping, a press officer from the Shanghai Municipal Health Promotion Committee.

"Fewer residents are taking antibiotics as a panacea, or asking doctors to prescribe them when they aren't needed," Gu told the Global Times. "Doctors are reducing the amount of antibiotics they prescribe to patients due to both the campaign and a regulation issued last year that capped the amount and types of antibiotics that each doctor can prescribe."

The Shanghai Municipal Health Promotion Committee interviewed 3,375 residents this year about how they use antibiotics. About 80 percent said they understand the importance of restricting their use of antibiotics, a 28 percent increase from 2010, according to a committee press release. The proportion of respondents found to be using antibiotics properly had increased from 75 percent in 2010.

The average amount of antibiotics used for each patient in Shanghai's public hospitals fell by 20 percent from 2010 following the campaign, according to the press release.

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