Because drug resistance becomes serious with more new antibiotics, the Ministry of Health on August 16 decided to set up a team to supervise the matter in the country.
The team led by Dr. Luong Ngoc Khue, head of the ministry's Department of Medical Examination and Treatment,will issue guidelines and implement activities to prevent drug resistance and send periodical report to the Ministry as well as propose measures to cope with the problem.
The Ministry has esablished steering board on drug resistance and 9 teams to supervise the problem to carry out the national plan against drug resistance with the vision to 2020.
According to Dr. Nguyen Thi Xuyen, Deputy Health Minister, improper use of antibiotics and overuse of the medication helped increase drug resistance, leading to shortage of new antibiotic medicines.
An investigation of selling antibiotics in 3,000 pharmacies in countryside and urban districts in the North Vietnam showed that residents' awareness of using antibiotic and drug resistance was quite low among buyers and sellers.
These antibiotic drugs contribute 14 percent and 19 percent in increasing turnover of pharmacies in urban and rural districts respectively. Worse 32 percent of people who joined the survey in urban areas buy antibiotic for only cough treatment.
