WHO
revises Protocol for Antibiotics…
In an effort to curb antibiotic resistance, the World Health Organization
(WHO) has divided the drugs into three categories — access, watch and reserve — specifying which are
to be used for common ailments and which are to be kept for complicated
diseases.
Commonly used antibiotics will be under the ‘access’ category; the second
line of antibiotics, slightly more potent, have been categorised under “watch”
and potent drugs to be used only as a “last resort” fall under the ‘reserve’
category.
· The WHO has now
recommended that antibiotics in the ‘access’ group be available
at all times as treatment for a wide range of common infections. This includes
amoxicillin, a widely-used antibiotic to treat infections such as pneumonia.
· The ‘watch’ group covers
antibiotics that are recommended as first or second choice treatment for a
small number of infections.
Ciprofloxacin, used to treat cystitis (a type of
urinary tract infection) and upper respiratory tract infections (like bacterial
sinusitis and bacterial bronchitis), falls under this category. The WHO has
recommended that prescription of these drugs should be dramatically reduced to
avoid further development of resistance.
· The third group,
‘reserve’, includes antibiotics such as colistin and some cephalosporins that
should be considered last-resort options, and used only in the most severe
circumstances when all other alternatives have failed, such as for
life-threatening infections due to multidrug-resistant bacteria.
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