China plans to curb rampant antibiotics use
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China's health authority will draw up a regulation to curb the overuse of antibiotics in the country, said an official with China's Ministry of Health (MOH) on Monday.
The regulation will make directors of medical institutions more responsible for antibiotics given out to patients in their respective institutions, said Zhao Minggang, vice director of the medical administration department under the MOH, during a regular press conference of the ministry.
Also the regulation will divide antibiotics into three categories: restricted and unrestricted antibiotics, and those under special management. Having full or partial access to antibiotics will depend on the level of the medical institution.
Further, Zhao said the ministry, this year, will ask all medical institutions to set their own caps on antibiotic use for both outpatients and inpatients.
Additionally, the health authority will step up monitoring of whether the drugs are being prescribed reasonably and antibiotic resistant bacteria, said Zhao.
According to statistics from the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), 690,000 cases of adverse drug reactions caused by abuse of medicines, including 600 deaths, were reported in 2010, said Zhao.
Only around 20 percent of Chinese patients are actually in need of antibiotics, according to a previous MOH press conference. Figures show that 70 out of 100 Chinese inpatients are give antibiotics, while the maximum number set by the World Health Organization is 30.
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