The Wire

It’s been well known for quite some time that excessive antibiotic use leads to the development of resistant superbugs, however medical experts claim that we still use up to twice as many antibiotics compared to what we really need. The problems resulting from this can be seen through the emergence of golden staph infections outside of hospital environments, which earlier this year, triggered microbiologists to call for a national approach to fighting the different strains that were emerging around the country. While that’s still on the drawing board, a report released yesterday has detailed a pilot approach to reducing antibiotic use in a community through raising public awareness. Researchers for the South Australian Health Department were able to reduce antibiotic use for common colds by 70% in a small community, raising hopes that a larger campaign could do the same for the rest of the country. Dr. Bill Dollman is the Director of Pharmacutical Policies and Programs for the Sth Australian Department of Health, and he spoke to Bill Birtles about the methods used in the program.