Situational analysis of antibiotic use and resistance in Ghana: policy and regulation

作者：Saviour Yevutsey, Kwame Ohene Buabeng, Moses Aikins, Berko Panyin Anto, Richard Biritwum, Jens Kjølseth Møller, Martha Gyansa‐Lutterodt · 发表于：BMC Public Health · 年份：2017 · DOI：10.1186/s12889-017-4910-7 · 被引用次数：136 · 研究领域：Antibiotic Use and Resistance、Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts、Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteria

BACKGROUND: Antibiotics have played an essential role in decreasing morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases. However, indiscriminate use and unrestricted access is contributing to the emergence of bacterial resistance. This paper reports on a situational analysis of antimicrobial use and resistance in Ghana, with focus on policy and regulation. METHODS: Relevant policy documents, reports, regulations and enactments were reviewed. PubMed and Google search engines were used to extract relevant published papers. Websites of stakeholders such as Ministry of Health (MOH) and its agencies were also reviewed. An interview guide was used to elicit responses from selected officials from these sectors. RESULTS: Laws and guidelines to control the use of antimicrobials in humans were available but not for animals. There was no National Antimicrobial Policy (NAP). A health practice regulatory law mandates Physicians, Physician Assistants, Midwives and trained Nurses to prescribe antimicrobials. However, antibiotics are widely prescribed and dispensed by unauthorised persons, suggesting weak enforcement of the laws. Antibiotics were also supplied to and from unapproved medicine outlets. The Standard Treatment Guidelines (STG), Essential Medicines List (EML) and the National Health Insurance Scheme Medicines List (NHISML) provide restrictions regarding levels of prescribing of antimicrobials. However, existing guidelines on antibiotic use are mostly not adhered to. The use of Autom...