Published today in The Lancet Public Health, the international study introduces the first framework for estimating how much of each type of antibiotic individual countries need, providing policymakers with a practical way to improve antibiotic stewardship while ensuring patients have access to effective treatment.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the world's most pressing public health challenges. Using antibiotics appropriately is essential to slowing the development of resistance while ensuring people with bacterial infections can access the medicines they need.
To help guide antibiotic use, the World Health Organization (WHO) groups antibiotics into three categories through its AWaRe classification.
- Access antibiotics are recommended as first-line treatments for the most common bacterial infections and carry a lower risk of driving resistance.
- Watch antibiotics are broader-spectrum medicines that should be used more selectively because they have a greater potential to contribute to resistance.
- Reserve antibiotics are last-resort treatments for multidrug-resistant infections.
Read the full story on the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences website.