GPs to issue "non-prescriptions"
General practitioners in England have been issued with
"non-prescription" pads by the Department of Health as part of a campaign
to persuade people not to ask for antibiotics to treat coughs, cold and
'flu.
The pads are to be used to explain to patients why
they have not been prescribed antibiotics and to give written advice on
treatments for their symptoms.
They form part of a £700,000 campaign which also
includes advertisements in national newspapers and magazines, and posters
and leaflets in community pharmacies and GP surgeries.
This is the second stage of a campaign that began
in the autumn of 1999 and follows reports from the House of Lords Science
and Technology Committee and the Standing Medical Advisory Committee which
highlighted the fact that unnecessary use of antibiotics was a key factor
in the development of microbial resistance.
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