Australia also has a strong tradition of promoting appropriate prescribing in medical schools, through publications such as Antibiotic guidelines 2 and through education of medical and pharmacy practitioners. 8 Cynics often blame the high rate of antibiotic use on the pharmaceutical industry and its intensive promotional activities. Yet the industry is also bound by the regulatory environment, its own code of ethics, and the very powerful effects of the PBS on market forces. The PBS has ensured that drugs in Australia are among the cheapest in the Western world. The climate is now right to educate the public about infections and when antibiotics might not help.
Antibiotics are a valuable resource that is easily squandered.
They are unique in being specifically designed to have no action on the host. However, adverse reactions are still a risk. In addition, bacteria have the ability to mutate to or acquire resistance at rates sufficient to reduce or negate antibiotic usefulness within one to two decades. Unnecessary prescribing adds to the selective pressure for antibiotic resistance. This leads in turn to increased costs to the community because of the need for more expensive, broader-spectrum agents, extra visits to medical practitioners, and further prescriptions or hospitalisations for antibiotic failures.