SOUTH AFRICAN ANTIBIOTIC STEWARDSHIP PROGRAMME
At a SAASP( South African Antibiotic Stewardship Programme) meeting held on the 4th & 5th
November 2015 Dr Govind was invited as a Family Practitioner representative on behalf of IPAF.
The membership of SAASP consists of Infectious Disease specialists, micro biologists, infection health
care workers, representatives from private hospital groups.
IPAF was the 1st General Practitioner group to be invited. Dr Govind was asked to address the
conference on antibiotic stewardship from a General Practitioners perspective.
The delegates were made aware that GPs are responsible for the majority of antibiotic scripts due to
the fact that there are twice as many GP’s in practice and that they see at least twice as many
patients as specialists
Some of the challenges facing GPs when prescribing antibiotics was pressure from patients, a desire
to act, insufficient or lack of knowledge and lack of real time testing.
Therefore suggestions to improve antibiotic prescribing were
1) Patient Education
Public campaigns regarding antibiotic overuse
Improve communication with patients
2) Dissemination of information
Antimicrobial susceptibility data, eg. Quinolone susceptibility in UTIs
Infectious disease surveillance data, eg. seasonal circulating respiratory virus
Real time update on outbreaks, eg. diphtheria
3) Laboratory support
Update on testing available, eg. PCR technologies
Rapid lab tests
4) Antibiotic guidelines
relevant, simple
5) Education
Undergraduate
CPD for antimicrobial usage
6) Infection prevention and control
Hand disinfection
Stethoscope disinfection
Waiting area cleanliness
Practice accreditation
There is an urgent need to prioritise the Antibiotic Stewardship among GPs.
IPAF will be instrumental in driving this process and continuing to represent GP’s at national and
international forums.
IPAF Communications
DR Mukesh Govind