The Food and Drug Administration Thailand (FDA) has been driving an ambitious campaign to halve the "irresponsible" usage of antibiotics among Thais which it says wastes about 10 billion baht a year and causes thousands of deaths.
The FDA's sub-committee promoting responsible drug use has established agreements with more than 100 pharmaceutical companies and more than 200 hospitals to promote the Rational Drug Use Hospital (RDU Hospital) project to prevent wasteful and irresponsible drug use, said Prasit Watannpa, dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Siriraj Hospital and the subcommittee's chairman.
A lack of understanding of diseases, duplication of drug prescriptions, and inconsistent behaviour of patients are contributing factors to the problem, he said.
The Health System Research Institute found that more than 100,000 people develop resistance to antibiotics each year in Thailand and more than 30,000 patients die from antibiotic resistant infections. The reckless usage of antibiotics causes an economic loss of 10 billion baht a year.
Dr Prasit said the RDU Hospital project will help reduce unnecessary drug use by 50% this year. It will also save on drug expenses by 5%.
"Sometimes patients are unaware they have been prescribed unnecessary drugs," Dr Prasit said.
For example, antibiotics intended for use against bacteria were prescribed to patients with viral infections, he said.
Further, the misuse of antibiotic drugs not only causes drug resistance but also kills good bacteria in the human body. This could have harm patient health, the doctor said.
The World Health Organisation has embarked on a worldwide campaign to warn against abuse and misuse of antibiotics. (Photo courtesy WHO)
Dr Prasit said the RDU Hospital project addresses the problem on three levels: Drugs producers and importers, drug prescribers, and drug users.
Many private and public hospitals and healthcare organisations have agreed to distribute drugs to patients in a "moral" fashion and to promote responsible prescription use.
Drug makers and importers at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association, Thai Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, and Government Pharmaceutical Organisation have also joined the project, agreeing to encourage the rational distribution and use of medicine.
Pharmacists and pharmacies are the main concern, the sub-committee said. To this end, drug education and responsible drug usage programmes have been introduced at all pharmacy schools, Dr Prasit said.
The ideal outcome of the project is to promote awareness and knowledge about drug use. At pharmacies and hospitals, patients should ask if they are being prescribed the correct medication, Dr Prasit said.
Pisonthi Chongtrakul, the sub- committee member overseeing public education, gave paracetamol use in combination with other medications that include the same substance as an example of unnecessary drug use.
Many Thais take paracetamol to ease headaches and fevers, but they also take cold medicine despite the fact the medicine also contains paracetamol.
"Drug users usually get confused and use duplicated medicines," Dr Pisonthi said.
The committee is reaching out to consumers via social media. Dr Pisonthi said the sub-committee has been successful in using social media to encourage the public to use medicines responsibly. More than 7.8 million followers have visited the Line account and 430,000 people have followed the Facebook page.