Absurd numbers

Today's class on antibiotics prescription in Basic Treatment of Infectious Diseases has been nearly fascinating. Annual antibiotics expenses are about 3 billion CZK ($120 million) in the Czech Republic and (at least) about 50 % of this amount is just wasted because of improper prescription.

For example, most of the patients (70 % or more) with common respiratory diseases simply don't need antibiotics and recover themselves by symptomatic treatment. Antibiotics are quite pointless for them, because such diseases are mostly caused by viruses.

Physicians who had a feedback were able to decrease their antibiotic prescription to 30 % of original amount in about 3 years. There was similar situation in prescription of penicillin as the drug of choice instead of macrolides and other alternatives.

Education and regular feedback (an audit of prescription in one month each year compared with average, ideal and individual results) were the only things necessary to change prescription habits of these physicians. Expenses for a national educational program for physicians should cost about 10 million CZK each year, but could safe about 1,5 billion each year.

The Czech Republic is about average in ATB prescription in Europe. The most they prescribe in France, the less in Netherlands (let's say six time less than in Fr.). The causes (and consequences) of this situation are very complex and we talked about it more than one afternoon, but the results of the studies and the numbers are more then convincing.

People should know.