AUTHORISING pharmacists to prescribe antibiotics will fuel antimicrobial resistance (AMR) the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) warns.
In a statement to mark the start of World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (18 to 24 Nov), RACGP National President, Adjunct Professor Karen Price, described non-medical prescribing as a threat to Australia's public heath.
"We need to reduce antibiotic use, and this is a national and international priority," she said.
"GPs resist prescribing antibiotics to their patients unless they are absolutely necessary.
"This is why the recent moves to introduce more non-medical prescribers of antibiotics in Australia is so alarming.
"The introduction of pharmacist prescribers in Australia will no doubt result in a rise in antimicrobial resistance, just as it has in other countries.
"The UK and New Zealand have reported increased trimethoprim resistance due to inappropriate use of antibiotics.
"Trimethoprim used to be the first line treatment pharmacists prescribed for UTIs in the UK, but it was over prescribed and now doesn't work for one-in-three women due to resistant bacteria.
"One of the key problems is pharmacists don't take urine samples when women present with symptoms that might be a UTI, whereas GPs do -- this is how we confirm that there is an infection, and check whether it's resistant to the antibiotic we may prescribe."
Price rejected suggestions that pharmacists should be authorised to prescribe for certain conditions because of ongoing workforce shortages in general practice (PD 17 Nov).
"[It] simply doesn't make sense," she said.
"Not only because pharmacists don't have the necessary facilities, training and experience to diagnose patients, but because workforce shortages are affecting the pharmacy sector just as much as general practice.
"State and federal governments need to find genuine long-term solutions to primary care workforce shortages that do not create bigger problems like increased AMR.
"State and territory governments need to put the health of all Australians ahead of politics."
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