[Impact of regulatory measures in the trends of community consumption of antibiotics in Chile].
BACKGROUND
The indiscriminate use of antibiotics increases the appearance of bacterial resistance and forces the use of more expensive alternatives. The Chilean Ministry of Health is regulating the consumption of antibiotics since September 1999. These regulatory measures restricted the sale of antibiotics only when these were prescribed by an MD or an DS.


OBJECTIVE
To study the impact of these regulatory measures on antibiotics sales in pharmacies.


METHODS
A retrospective analysis of antibiotics sales in pharmacies from 1996 to 2000. The information was obtained from the International Marketing System (IMS Health), an auditing system of pharmacy sales. The consumption unit used was the Defined Daily Dose per 1000 inhabitants/day (DDD).


RESULTS
There was an important reduction in DDD, after the introduction of regulatory measures, for amoxicillin, ampicillin, erythromycin, trimethoprim/sulpha, chroramphenicol, cloxacillin and phenoxymethylpenicillin. There was also a important fall in sales, expressed in dollars.


CONCLUSIONS
The regulatory measures of the Ministry of Health, had an immediate and great impact on antibiotics sales in Chile.
Bavestrello
Luis
L
Unidad de Infectología, Servicio de Farmacia, Hospital Dr. Gustavo Fricke, Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos, Instituto de Seguridad del Trabajo, Escuela de Medicina, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Valparaíso, Viña del Mar, Chile.
Cabello
Angela
A
Casanova
Dunny
D
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002677:Chile; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D006801:Humans; D007880:Legislation, Drug; D010594:Pharmacies; D012189:Retrospective Studies
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents