Report calls on Australia to reduce antibiotic use amid rise in drug-resistant infections

STORY: Report calls on Australia to reduce antibiotic use amid rise in drug-resistant infections SHOOTING TIME: Nov. 17, 2023 DATELINE: Nov. 16, 2023 LENGTH: 00:00:41 LOCATION: Canberra CATEGORY: HEALTH SHOTLIST: 1. various of pharmacies in Canberra STORYLINE: Australia is losing the war against drug-resistant infections, a government report has warned. The report, published on Thursday by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, found that bacteria that cause golden staph infections, gastroenteritis and gonorrhea are growing increasingly resistant to the antibiotic drugs that treat them - a phenomenon known as antimicrobial resistance (AMR). According to the report, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a 19 percent drop in antibiotic use in Australia between 2019 and 2022, but the country still has one of the highest consumption rates in the developed world. In 2022, one-third of Australians were given a prescription for at least one round of antibiotics, the report said The