How Can Healthcare Professionals Help Combat Antimicrobial Resistance?

John Mohr, PharmD, president and founder of Medical Affairs Strategic Solutions, LLC, outlines factors that contribute to antimicrobial resistance and strategies to combat this threat.

Interview Transcript (slightly modified for readability).

“The issue of antimicrobial resistance is a global concern and a problem that needs to be looked at, at a global level. In the United States, we are the leading consumer of antibiotics on a per capita basis. In the US, 17 million kilograms of antibiotics are being used annually. A majority of those [antibiotics], 80%, [are] being used in animal husbandry and the other 20% [are] being used in humans.

Of human-use, 16% is being used in the outpatient setting. A recent study demonstrated that 30% of antibiotics being used in the outpatient setting is deemed to be 'inappropriate' [usage]. We need to control the overall use of antibiotics in agriculture as well as improve the prescribing of current antibiotics that we have available to us today.”