Leading towards Health for All
Creating Synergies between Public Health and Primary Care
Keywords: antibiotic use, early childhood, overprescribing, deprescribing
Introduction:
Spain had one of the largest antibiotic prescription rates to treat acute respiratory tract infections among children in Europe.
PURAPI (Rational Use of Antibiotics in Early Childhood Program) is a Program implemented in 2017 in Region of Murcia - 1.5 M inhabitants- (Spain), which was designed to improve the use of antibiotics (A) in children under the age of three. PURAPI has been aimed at paediatricians, physicians from both Primary Care and hospital emergency services, pharmacists and the general public.
Objective To analyse the evolution of A consumption in Primary Care in the paediatric population, as well as the effectiveness of the program after its implementation in each one of the 9 Health Areas of the Region of Murcia.
Method:
Qualitative research carried out helped to identify the needs of both health care professionals and the community. Health interventions implemented were: i) Training seminars and workshops on responsible use of A aimed at healthcare professionals and families, ii) Development of guidelines for families on childhood illnesses to address the most prevalent diseases in infants, iii) Production of algorithms to tackle the most common diseases in early childhood, iv) Development of a regional antimicrobial therapeutic guide in paediatrics.
The Defined Daily Dose (DHD) per 1,000 inhabitants, as A consumption measure, from the onset of the implementation Program to the present, was analysed in children under three years of age. The data were extracted from The Murcia Region Health Service Business Intelligence Portal (PIN).
Results:
Significant decrease in A consumption in the paediatric population, resulting in a 45% reduction in A use in all Health Areas of Murcia Region from 2017 to 2022.
Conclusions:
PURAPI success was due to the greater awareness in the appropriate use of A among not only health professionals involved but also the population
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EQuiP is open to both Individual and Organizational Memberships. EQuiP offers a platform to improve the knowledge base and to improve closer collaboration between GPs / Family Doctors, researchers, educators, policy makers and organisations involved in quality and safety in family medicine and primary care.
