The government has issued a warning, requesting physicians to “mandatorily mention the indication/reason/justification while prescribing antibiotics,” which is a significant step in the direction of reducing the overprescription of antibiotics.
Sources claim that the Director General of Health Services, Dr. Atul Goel, has issued a directive requiring all physicians in medical schools to “mandatorily mention the exact indication/reason/justification while prescribing antimicrobials” in communication.
The Union Health Ministry is the umbrella organization for DG Health Services.
In addition to physicians, Goel has reminded pharmacists to “sell antibiotics only on valid prescriptions and implement Schedule H and H1 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules.” When writing a prescription for an antibiotic, doctors should make sure to specify the precise indication.
Antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, is one of the biggest threats to public health worldwide, according to the government.
“It is estimated that bacterial AMR was directly responsible for 1.27 million global deaths in 2019, and 4.95 million deaths were merely associated with drug-resistant infections,” the letter continues.