Antibiotic Resistance Around the World

     Deborah Monks, manager of Scientific and Technical Affairs, at the Australian Pharmaceutical Manufacture’s Association, offered a series of recommendations targeted towards antibiotic resistance at the 2001 Australian National Summit on Antibiotic Resistance.

     Monks felt that monitoring the use of antibiotics, evaluating and registering new antibiotics, in addition to increased education efforts would all work to reduce the incidence of resistant disease strains. Monks stated that there were currently many controls on the use of antibiotics in humans. Antibiotics were doled out on a prescription basis, and in Australia few antibiotics were manufactured, and the import of antibiotics was carefully monitored.

     However, Monks maintained that resistance data should be submitted of all new antibiotics, and that risk assessments should be done to determine the chance that bacteria could become resistance to a new drug. Monks also suggested that educating the public about the dangers of antibiotic overuse through public service announcements would be valuable.