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> Report finds more than a third of population had at least one antimicrobial prescription subsidised by Australian government in 2022

Thats right there in the heading. No country should have freaking 1/3 of the population using antimicrobials in a single year.




I found this surprising as well. Here's the actual report, which the Guardian did not think to link:

https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/publications-and-resourc...

OK, I have to admit I'm surprised it's that high. As you'd expect, it's heavily biased towards the elderly. It's good that a light is being shone on it.

But the article is written as if Australia is some kind of global prime suspect in driving resistance trends, and I continue to doubt whether that is actually the case.


There's a fact in the article discussing this exact point around relative rates of antimicrobial use by country:

> Australia ranks seventh-highest in the developed world for antimicrobial community prescribing rates. Australia’s hospital antimicrobial use is estimated to be nearly three times that of the European country with the lowest use, the Netherlands.

So we are top 10 but not the single worse offender, at least by this metric.




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