China Medical News

Health authorities have been emphasizing the control of bacterial drug resistance and the rational use of antibiotics, and efforts made in the past 10 years have yielded noticeable results, said Xiao Yonghong, a member of the National Health and Family Planning Commission’s expert committee for rational use of drugs and a professor at Zhejiang University’s First Affiliated Hospital.

Last year, antibiotics dispensed at medical institutions across China accounted for 11.2% of the total value of all drugs sold at those institutions, compared with 19.7% in 2010, he said. According to Xiao, in 2010, more than 67% of inpatients in China used antibiotics, and nearly 20% of outpatients used antibiotics. By the end of last year, the percentages decreased to 37.5% and 8.7%, respectively. The quantity and frequency of antibiotics used on patients also saw a decrease of about 41% from 2010 to 2016.

With the reduced use of antibiotics, the proportion of cases of major multidrug-resistant bacteria at medical institutions in China have been controlled, according to Xiao. “Gaps still remain between China and countries that have taken the lead in the control of bacterial drug resistance, but China is close to the US and major countries in Europe in certain aspects,” Xiao said. For example, the proportion of cases of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a type of multidrug resistant bacteria prevalent in many countries, was lowered from about 52% in 2011 in China to about 30% last year. In comparison, the proportion of cases in the United States is 44% and in India, 48%, Xiao said. (Source: China Daily)