**************************************************
The Hospital Authority (HA) and the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) jointly launched the territory-wide Health Protection Programme on Antimicrobial Resistance (HPPAR) to control the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance as well as optimising the selection and use of antibiotics for the best benefits of patients. The major component of the HPPAR is to introduce the Antibiotic Stewardship Programme to public hospitals.
Announcing the details of the programme today (February 17), the Director (Professional Services & Operations) of HA, Dr Cheung Wai-lun, said the issue of antibiotic resistance was getting more serious and had become a worldwide concern in recent years. He said it was timely for the HA to join with the CHP to implement a programme for both the public and private health care sectors for patients' safety and effective management of drug-resistant bacterial infection in hospitals and the community.
"An Implementation Committee of Antibiotic Stewardship Programme was established at HA Head Office level to steer and develop strategies for containment of antibiotic resistance. Clinical guidelines on the use of antibiotics have been promulgated to clinicians as a guide. The committee will monitor and promote the prudent use of antibiotics at public hospitals, and evaluate the progress and effectiveness of the programme.
"Multidisciplinary Antibiotic Stewardship Teams have also been set up at all hospital clusters to construct and manage an antibiotic usage database and resistance database. The team is also responsible for managing the audit of prescriptions for antibiotics based on established guidelines and providing education to, and collecting feedback from, clinicians."
A total of eight types of commonly used antibiotics have been chosen as targets for monitoring and auditing, while four common groups of drug-resistance bacteria will be under close surveillance. (The list of antibiotics and bacteria is appended)
Dr Cheung said a standard reporting mechanism was in place to capture and analyse specific data on sensitivity and resistance patterns for organisms isolated in different types of clinical specimens so as to keep track of the trends and pattern of antibiotic resistance.
On the community front, the Head of the Infection Control Branch of the CHP, Dr Raymond Yung, said the CHP had been in close liaison with the Hong Kong Medical Association in the planning and implementation of the HPPAR.
"Letters have been sent by the CHP to all private practitioners to invite them to join the programme. The private sector in general is supportive. A monitoring mechanism, CAUSE (Community Antibiotic Use Surveillance Exercise), has been established for general practitioners to report to the CHP their prescription of antibiotics for tracking and analysis purposes. To date, 60 practitioners have joined the programme.
"This is the starting point and CHP is looking forward to collaborating with the private sector to enlist the support of more practitioners," Dr Yung said.
To enhance public awareness and to solicit community support for the importance of appropriate use of antibiotics, the HA and CHP will initiate a series of public education programmes, including the distribution of education pamphlets, putting up posters, organising seminars and talks for clinicians, and information sharing on websites.
Ends/Friday, February 17, 2006
Issued at HKT 18:28
NNNN