With an aim to curb antibiotic resistance, the World Health Organization (WHO) has revised the protocol for antibiotics.
Protocol:
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WHO has divided the drugs into three categories:Access,Watch andReserve.
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It has also specified which category of drugs are to be used for treating common ailments and which are to be used to treat complicated diseases.
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Access Category:As per the classification, commonly used antibiotics will be placed under the ‘access’ category.
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WHO has recommended that the antibiotics in this category be made available at all times as a treatment for a wide range of common infections.
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The drugs that fall under this category includes drugs such as amoxicillin which is widely-used for treating infections such as pneumonia.
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Watch Category:Second line of antibiotics which are slightly potent will be placed under ‘watch‘ category.WHO recommends that the drugs coming under this category be prescribed less to avoid further development of resistance. Example of drug that falls under this category is Ciprofloxacin, which is used to treat cystitis and upper respiratory tract infections like bacterial sinusitis and bacterial bronchitis.
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Reserve Category:The highly potent drugs which should be used only as a last resort will be placed under the ‘reserve’ category. WHO recommends that these drugs be used only when all other alternatives failed such as life-threatening infections caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria.
Significance of this move:
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The new WHO list should help health system planners and prescribers ensure that people who need antibiotics have access to them, and ensure they get the right one, so that the problem of resistance doesn’t get worse.
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The new categorisation will further guide countries in ensuring access to appropriate antibacterial agents and support antimicrobial stewardship effort.