How to organise antibiotic prescription

In recent years, efforts have been made in hospitals to improve antibiotic prescription. Most universities organise courses on the subject, which lead to a local university diploma. However, possessing such a diploma does not give entitlement to prescribe. In fact, most doctors prescribe antibiotics and such courses are only of interest to volunteer physicians. While some are very careful, the majority prescribe the drugs as they are rarely toxic . Others are refractory to any information and particularly to any training . Two methods are typically proposed to reduce unjustified prescription. As a result of imposed restrictions, only trained doctors having met the trai ning standards are allowed to prescribe and have to keep to a limited budge t. The persuasive method, on the other hand, opens the way for a wide scope of training courses, which are provided by industry; some are said to be b iased as they encourage prescription and the risk of selecting resistant mu tant bacteria is scarcely documented. This method does not always coincide with the training curricula. The industry is torn between declared objectiv es such as judicious drug use and prevailing commercial aims. As a result, prescription is not restrained by any objective limit. It should be noted t hat prescription varies greatly from one hospital to another and within a g iven hospital between one department and another. Certain departments presc ribe much more than others and these (emergency, medical and surgical inten sive care, respiratory disease) should be targeted first. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. and International Society of Chemotherapy. All rights reserve d.