Antibiotic

The Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics is a non-profit, international organization solely dedicated to preserving the power of antibiotics. Founded in 1981, APUA conducts educational, research and international networking activities to promote more appropriate use of antibiotics around the world.

This handbook is not intended to be an antibiotic textbook nor to replace the antibiotic section of the SAMF. Its function is to indicate the GSH antibiotic recommendations and to provide some additional therapeutic suggestions for a number of clinical situations.

South African researchers have expressed concern about the increasing number of bacterial infections that are becoming resistant to the available range of antibiotics.

Invasive bacterial infections are a significant cause of childhood illness and death worldwide. But clinical officers and doctors in African hospitals have few resources to diagnose and treat seriously ill children. Research in Kenya shows that simple rules based on current World Health Organisation guidelines effectively target antibiotic treatment.

South Africa is on the verge of a massive increase in the outbreak of infectious disease in our hospitals, with very few measures to control it.

According to the World Health Organization, the Czech Republic is a world leader in a deadly trend of antimicrobial resistance that is leaving patients helpless against powerful infections.

This Kwik-Skwiz deals with the measurement of drug use patterns and prescribing behaviour and also with the structures which can be used to promote rational drug use at district level and how they can use such measurement information (indicator data). Examples from an indicator study completed in the Kalahari district of the Northern Cape are used to illustrate the use of such data.