Findings from the latest CDC report further underline the need for improved prescribing practices and public awareness of the ‘silent pandemic of our age’....
Bond University Professor of General Practice Mark Morgan is Chair of the RACGP Expert Committee – Quality Care and represents the college on the national Antimicrobial Stewardship Advisory Committee. He is also a chief investigator in Medical Research Future Fund research into the implementation of antimicrobial stewardship in general practice and aged care settings.
He told newsGP antimicrobial resistance is ‘the silent pandemic of our age’.
‘Superbugs used to be rare and related to prolonged hospital stays with multiple antibiotics, but increasingly people are coming into hospital with these hard-to-treat infections,’ he said.
‘It is estimated that in 2021 there were 4.71 million deaths associated with antibiotic resistance globally.’
With the majority (87%) of antimicrobials in the community prescribed under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) by GPs, the AURA report reveals 23.2 million antimicrobial prescriptions were supplied to around 37% of Australians under the PBS and Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme in 2024.
These figures mark a 4.8% increase from 2023, but are still 13% lower than 2019, and 20.8% lower than in 2015 – with Professor Morgan saying that despite numbers climbing there are ‘some positive trends’.
In 2024, the most frequently dispensed antimicrobials in the community were amoxicillin (22.0%), cefalexin (21.7%), amoxicillin–clavulanic acid (14.6%) and doxycycline (11.5%).
Professor Morgan, who is also Chair of the RACGP’s First do no harm: a guide to choosing wisely in general practice, says the AURA report findings further highlight the central role GPs have in guiding antimicrobial stewardship.
‘Australia continues to use antimicrobials in much larger amounts than some other equivalent countries,’ he said.
‘We should ask ourselves why, and what can be done about it? It is not easy when there are expectations to manage and a culture of treating infections with antimicrobials.’
He says GPs can use the college’s resource to support conversations with patients about low-value or harmful care and alternatives. Meanwhile, the Therapeutic Guidelines provides clinical, evidence-based advice for preventing and treating infections.
Antimicrobial stewardship
General practice