Superbugs ‘could kill more than cancer’
Health Secretary tells GPS to stop giving out needless antibiotics or face more drug-resistant infections
Superbugs will become a bigger killer than cancer if GPS do not stop prescribing needless antibiotics, Jeremy Hunt has warned. The Health Secretary said action needed to be taken to reduce prescribing levels as research found that at least one in five prescriptions by family doctors should never have been issued. Mr Hunt said antibiotic resistance could make routine operations too dangerous.
SUPERBUGS will kill more people than cancer without swift action to stop GPS doling out needless antibiotics, Jeremy Hunt has warned.
It came as research found at least one in five prescriptions by family doctors should never have been issued, fuelling antibiotic resistance.
Health officials urged GPS to rein in prescribing of the drugs, amid warnings that routine hospital operations could become too dangerous if common medications become ineffective.
Leading family doctors said the findings were “extremely disappointing,” but said GPS should not be blamed for handing out so many needless drugs.
The study by Public Health England (PHE) and Imperial College London found British doctors were twice as likely as those in the Netherlands to prescribe the drugs. Overuse of antibiotics fuels the rise of drug-resistant superbugs, which kill 5,000 a year in the UK. The medication only works against bacterial infections, when the vast majority of coughs, colds and sore throats are caused by viruses.
The study which tracked GP practices across England found at least one in five prescriptions for antibiotics were inappropriate.
Almost six in 10 patients with a sore throat were prescribed antibiotics – when around 13 per cent had a bacterial case requiring it, the research found. The drugs were prescribed for more than 40 per cent of coughs, when just 10 per cent were appropriate.
And almost nine in 10 patients with a sinus infection received the drugs – when only around one in 10 should have done so.
More than 38 million courses are handed out by GPS each year – suggesting around 7.5million were needless.
Mr Hunt called for action to cut prescribing levels. He said: “Drug-resistant infections are one of the biggest threats to modern medicine and inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics is only exacerbating this problem. We risk a world where superbugs kill more people a year than cancer and routine operations become too dangerous.” Around 160,000 people die of cancer in the UK annually.
The findings were published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. Prof Paul Cosford, the PHE medical director said: “Using antibiotics when you don’t need them threatens their long term effectiveness and we all have a part to play to ensure they continue to help us, our families and communities in the future. This publication highlights the role GPS can play and I urge all practices to look at ways they can reduce their inappropriate prescribing levels to help make sure the antibiotics that save lives today can save lives tomorrow.”
Prof Helen Stokes-lampard, the chairman of the Royal College of GPS, said: “Today’s figures are extremely disappointing but they must not be used as an excuse for criticising GPS who are working their hardest to reduce antibiotic prescribing, whilst grappling with countless other workload pressures and a shortage of GPS”