Kauvery Hospital Emphasizes on the Need for Antimicrobial Stewardship

• A first of its kind training programme includes the know-hows of using antibiotics on patients
• It is important to know who needs antibiotics and optimum usage of the same

Kauvery Hospital, one of the largest healthcare chains in Tamil Nadu introduced a training programme on Antibiotics. The module is to upskill doctors on antibiotic usage.

Antimicrobial resistance in a region or community can cause complex healthcare issues. The drug resistant infections can cause multiple problems to the organs in the body. One of the main reasons for antimicrobial resistance is the high usage of antibiotics over a period of time. According to a report, India recorded the highest in terms of antibiotic consumption in the year 2010.

Speaking on the need for the module, Dr. Vijaylakshmi Balakrishnan, Senior Consultant Infectious Diseases, Kauvery Hospital, Chennai says, “Infections are getting complex as years pass by and they have become resistant to a lot of medicines. In order to tackle such infections, antimicrobial stewardship is required. It is administering the right type of antibiotic, right dose at the right time. In 1960s or 70s, antibiotics were prescribed to cure illnesses, but off late the resistance is increasing and there’s often unnecessary prescription of antibiotics for patients.”

The understanding of antimicrobial administration helps in improving patient care, reducing hospital stay and cost of care. “WHO (World Health Organisation) is already doing a similar programme, and here we can’t have a central organization to host this since the antibiotics and resistance spectrum in the Western countries and India differs. There can also be differences between cities. Hence this module by our hospital will be a one of its kind initiative to keep the healthcare professionals updated on the realm of antimicrobial treatments thereby providing utmost patient care,” she adds.

Speaking on the launch of the programme, Dr. Manivannan Selvaraj, Founder and Managing Director, Kauvery Group of Hospitals said, “As a multidisciplinary healthcare provider, we have constantly focused on improving our research in the field of medicine and upskilling of healthcare workers. This programme is a boon where it will educate our nurses and medical staffs from highly qualified faculty members like microbiologists, surgeons, physicians and this has to reach a larger community. This is just the beginning and we are sure to take this message across the country. I congratulate the team for introducing this training programme which will benefit the healthcare professionals in a long run eventually leading to better patient care.”

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