Ebook Info
- Published: 2022
- Number of pages: 297
- Format: PDF
- File Size: 10.85 MB
- Authors: WHO
Description
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a threat to global health and development and is estimated to contribute to more than five million deaths globally each year. We need urgent global action, using a One Health approach, to keep our precious medicines working. One of the critical health targets of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals is for access to safe, effective and affordable medicines for all. In the case of antibiotics and other antimicrobials, using them carefully is vital to maintaining their effectiveness. The inappropriate use and overuse of antibiotics are driving a global increase in AMR and have a pernicious impact on the effectiveness of these critical medicines. It threatens to send us back to the pre-antibiotic era, when a routine infection could mean death. Through the Global Action Plan on AMR, WHO is working to improve the surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and reduce inappropriate antibiotic consumption. The new AWaRe antibiotic book, produced as an adjunct to WHO’s Essential Medicines List (EML), provides concise, evidence-based guidance for more than 30 of the most common clinical infections in children and adults in both primary health care and hospital settings. The EML has been a key strategic component of WHO’s goal to improve the use of medicines since 1977. The latest version of the EML, published in 2021, includes 39 antibiotics out of 479 medicines, reflecting the vital role these medicines play in health care. Given the urgency of the threat to human health from AMR, and the many clinical infections for which antibiotics play a lifesaving role, WHO took a pragmatic approach to developing simple, practical guidance on how they should be used. The AWaRe system groups the hundreds of different antibiotics used globally into three simple categories – Access, Watch and Reserve – based on their clinical importance and the risk of their use promoting resistance. The AWaRe antibiotic book provides clear guidance on the choice of antibiotic, formulation, dose and duration for essential antibiotics for hospital and primary health care settings, including guidance on when not to use antibiotics. There is an urgent need to develop and implement clear, globally accepted indicators, building on the AWaRe system, to promote the appropriate use of antibiotics and reduce their inappropriate use. Many challenges remain, including how data should inform local policies, and how to change patterns of medicine use formed over decades, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
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