Last week, Cho Ray Hospital, one of Saigon's largest local facilities, launched a campaign to prevent antibiotic abuse, an increasingly serious issue among Vietnamese patients.
According to Vietnam News, the program aims to raise patient awareness around the appropriate uses of antibiotics as well as heighten hospital supervision of their use.
These procedures come a month after health officials gathered to discuss the growing threat posed by so-called 'superbugs', or bacteria which have become resistant to modern-day antibiotics. Through overuse of the drugs, superbugs – also known as Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae – can lead to death in up to 50% of patients, according to the US-based Centers for Disease Control.
Head of Cho Ray's Quality Management Department Dr. Ton Thanh Tra said those with antibiotic resistance account for 8-20% of Cho Ray's total number of patients.
More troubling, however, is the fact that some are arriving at the hospital with antibiotic resistance issues prior to admission, reports Infonet. With local pharmacies providing easy access to a host of different drugs, patients are able to self-medicate without the supervision of a doctor, further complicating the issue of antibiotic resistance.
For the moment, however, Cho Ray's campaign is a step in the right direction. Moving forward, the hospital will put stronger procedures in place not only to evaluate the initial prescription of antibiotics but also to assess their efficiency once the patient has begun a particular course of treatment.
Now if we could just get the drugs out of our tap water, things might be fine.
