MAKING WAVES
TECHNOLOGY
56 diseases , it has also been proven to be vital in halting the rise of antimicrobial resistance worldwide .
Although this can occur naturally over a period of time , the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials is accelerating this process , threatening not only the industry ’ s ability to treat common infectious diseases , but also leads to higher patient costs and increased mortality rates , according to the WHO .
“ In the US , in the domestic part of the business , we ’ ve had success on tackling this , where we ’ ve identified people who over-prescribe and written letters saying ‘ Your prescription rate for antibiotics is above the trend of what your peers are doing .’ We ’ ve had a similar approach in the UK . That in itself has had a notable success ,” notes Patel .
“ Both members and providers need to be educated that taking antibiotics is not the best solution all- ’ round and often can do more harm than good . Antibiotics have got their place and they ’ re extremely useful , but they are for diagnosed bacterial infections only .”
MAKING WAVES
The need in tackling lifestyle diseases is also being explored by non-traditional healthcare players . Companies such as
DECEMBER 2018