Are you antibiotics aware?
GPs in Kirklees are making a stand in the battle against the increasing resistance of diseases to antibiotics and the implications to health.
NHS North Kirklees Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and NHS Greater Huddersfield CCG will be encouraging both GPs and patients to sign up to become ‘Antibiotic Guardians’ at http://antibioticguardian.com/ as part of a campaign that has been launched.
The Antibiotic Guardian pledge campaign calls on the public and medical community to become antibiotic guardians by choosing one simple pledge about how they will make better use of these vital medicines. This comes in the countdown to European Antibiotic Awareness Day on Friday 18 November.
Antibiotics are essential medicines for treating bacterial infections in both humans and animals, but they are increasingly losing their effectiveness. Bacteria can adapt and find ways to survive the effects of an antibiotic so that the antibiotic no longer works. The more you use an antibiotic, the more bacteria become resistant to it.
Dr Steve Ollerton, Clinical Leader of NHS Greater Huddersfield CCG and local GP said: “We are asking everyone across the area to support this campaign as one of the greatest threats to the health of our nation is antibiotic resistance.”
There are very few new antibiotics in development, which is why it is important existing antibiotics are used wisely and these life-saving medicines continue to stay effective for ourselves and future generations. Many antibiotics are prescribed and used for mild infections when they do not need to be, say campaigners. All colds and most coughs, sinusitis, earache and sore throats often get better without antibiotics.
Dr David Kelly, a local GP and Chair of NHS North Kirklees CCG also asks patients to remember: “Antibiotics should only be taken as prescribed, and never saved for later or shared with others. It is also important to use antibiotics in the right way – the right dose, at the right time for the right duration. Appropriate use of antibiotics will slow down the development of antibiotic resistance.”
NHS North Kirklees and NHS Greater Huddersfield Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) have seen a reduction in GP prescribing of antibiotics.
