“The Guide to Antimicrobial Medicine of the Aljarafe Region has been a fundamental support to improve the prescribing of antibiotics in our community and, since 2017, is the reference guide of the National Health System.
It is now 12 years since the San Juan de Dios Hospital in Aljarafe and a multidisciplinary team of professionals from the Aljarafe-Sevilla Norte Health District launched the first edition of the “Antimicrobial Therapeutic Guide for the Aljarafe Region”. The then Agency for the Assessment of Health Technologies of Andalusia (AETSA) to support strategies to promote the appropriate use of antimicrobials.
The “Aljarafe area Antimicrobial Therapeutics Guide” has been a key resource in the community for Antimicrobial Optimization Programs (PROA), which began in 2009 to support strategies to promote the appropriate use of antimicrobials in the Aljarafe region.
The guide is designed with the aim of improving the approach to infectious diseases in the community, answering over 400 clinical questions and establishing unique criteria for treatment selection of patients with infections without criteria for hospital admission regardless of the setting of care. They are cared for: in primary care or in hospital.
The project was coordinated by Dr. Rocio Fernández Urusuno, who was then a pharmacist in primary care in the district of Aljarfa-Sevilla Norte and the current Scientific-Technical Coordinator (PROA) of Andalusia at the General Directorate of Public Health and Pharmaceutical Regulation of the Ministry . Health and Consumption is the national health system’s antimicrobial therapeutic guide for the community sector of the National Plan against Antibiotic Resistance (PRAN) since 2017.
Since its publication in 2011, there has been a progressive decrease in the prescription of antibiotics in primary care in Andalusia, reversing the upward trend of previous years. Global prescriptions for antibiotics decreased by 24% in Andalusia between 2011 and 2019. A decrease in prescriptions of broad-spectrum antibiotics has contributed to this reduction, such as a 50% decrease in amoxicillin-clavulanate prescriptions, quinolones by 30%, and cephalosporin group use by 16%. Although antibiotic prescriptions have continued to decrease over the following years, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on community antibiotic prescribing precludes additional results beyond 2019.
This guide is currently in the process of being updated as the Antimicrobial Medicine Guide of the National Health System (PRAN, Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products) and is available in electronic format from the PRAN website, which also exists in app format (PRAN Guides) Is. Available on Google Play and App Store.
