Open AccessAccess–Watch ratio based on access, watch, and reserve classification of antibiotics in public health facilities of Tamil Nadu
Author(s) -
Isha Sinha,
Krishna Kanth,
Yuvaraj Krishnamoorthy,
Vijayaprasad Gopichandran
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
indian journal of public health/indian journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.381
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 2229-7693
pISSN - 0019-557X
DOI - 10.4103/ijph.ijph_274_22
Subject(s) - tamil , audit , antibiotics , business , medicine , antibiotic resistance , environmental health , medical emergency , accounting , philosophy , linguistics , microbiology and biotechnology , biology
The rise in cases of antibiotic resistance can be mainly attributed to the overuse and misuse of antibiotics. To address this issue, the WHO launched Access, Watch, and Reserve (AWaRe) classification of antibiotics in 2017 as a surveillance tool. Many countries have adopted it to monitor and optimize their antibiotic usage. However, implementation of it is yet not seen at a very appreciable level. Through this survey, we tried to explore the prescribing pattern of antibiotics based on the WHO AWaRe classification in selected secondary and tertiary care health facilities of Tamil Nadu. In-patient case sheets were audited in selected departments across 18 health facilities in six districts. Proportionately higher use of the watch group of antibiotics was found in all the districts. A lower access-watch ratio suggests the need for judicious implementation of such tools to safeguard this life-saving good and ensuring its sustainability.