DoH tackles antibiotic resistance

The Department of Health (DoH) today launched it latest phase in a campaign to tackle the growing problem of resistance to antibiotics.

Adverts and posters, aimed at clinicians and patients, will appear in newspapers and magazines in an attempt to decrease the unnecessary requests from patients for prescriptions.

The overall message is to remind the public that antibiotics cannot treat viral infections such as sore throats, colds and coughs.

Sir Liam Donaldson, chief medical officer for England, explained people suffering from flu-like symptoms should rest, take plenty of fluids and speak to a pharmacist to find out which over the counter treatments could help.

“Using antibiotics when they are not necessary will increase resistance to them and make it difficult to treat serious bacterial infections in the future,” he stated.

The DoH also introduced a new Frank campaign this week aimed at teenagers, warning them of the ill-effects of smoking cannabis.

With a range of TV, radio and online advertisements, it shows how the drug can make the user sick, paranoid and cause panic attacks.