Characteristics of a Nationwide Voluntary Antibiotic Resistance Awareness Campaign in India; Future Paths and Pointers for Resource Limited Settings/Low and Middle Income Countries.

Antibiotic resistance has reached alarming proportions globally, prompting the World Health Organization to advise nations to take up antibiotic awareness campaigns. Several campaigns have been taken up worldwide, mostly by governments. The government of India asked manufacturers to append a 'redline' to packages of antibiotics as identification marks and conducted a campaign to inform the general public about it and appropriate antibiotic use. We investigated whether an antibiotic resistance awareness campaign could be organized voluntarily in India and determined the characteristics of the voluntarily organized campaign by administering a questionnaire to the coordinators, who participated in organizing the voluntary campaign India. The campaign characteristics were: multiple electro-physical pedagogical and participatory techniques were used, 49 physical events were organized in various parts of India that included lectures, posters, booklet/pamphlet distribution, audio and video messages, competitions, and mass contact rallies along with broadcast of messages in 11 local languages using community radio stations (CRS) spread all over India. The median values for campaign events were: expenditure-3000 Indian Rupees/day (US$~47), time for planning-1 day, program spread-4 days, program time-4 h, direct and indirect reach of the message-respectively 250 and 500 persons/event. A 2 min play entitled 'Take antibiotics as prescribed by the doctor' was broadcast 10 times/day for 5 days on CRS with listener reach of ~5 million persons. More than 85%ofcoordinators thought that the campaign created adequate awareness about appropriate antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance. The voluntary campaign has implications for resource limited settings/low and middle income countries.

Incidence and factors associated with surgical site infections in a teaching hospital in Ujjain, India.

BACKGROUND: Surgical site infections (SSI) are among the most commonly reported health care-associated infections; however, there is a paucity of data on SSI from India. This study aimed to determine the incidence of SSI and explore its associated factors at a teaching hospital in India. METHODS: Direct and indirect surveillance methods, based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, were used to define SSI. Patients were followed up for 30 days postsurgery. Prescribing and resistance data were collected. RESULTS: The SSI rate among the 720 patients investigated was 5%. Risk factors for SSI identified were as follows: severity of disease (P = .001), presence of drains (P = .020), history of previous hospitalization (P = .003), preoperative stay (P = .005), wound classification (P < .001), and surgical duration (P < .001). Independent risk factors identified included wound classification (odds ratio = 4.525; P < .001) and surgical duration (odds ratio = 2.554; P = .015). Most patients (99%) were prescribed antibiotics. Metronidazole (24.5%), ciprofloxacin (11%), and amikacin (9%) were the most commonly prescribed antibiotics. Most commonly isolated bacteria were Staphylococcus aureus (n = 14), of which 34% were methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n = 6), which showed resistance to ceftazidime (70%), ciprofloxacin (63%), and gentamicin (57%). CONCLUSION: Incidence of SSI at the hospital was lower than reported in many low- and middle-income countries, although higher than reported in most high-income countries. Targeted implementation strategies to decrease incidence of preventable SSI are needed to further improve quality and safety of health care in this hospital and similar hospitals elsewhere.

Spatial pattern of private health care provision in Ujjain, India: a provider survey processed and analysed with a Geographical Information System.

In developing countries like India, official information on private health care providers is scanty. This is an obstacle for effective health care planning and policy development. In this paper, we present a project aimed to enumerate, characterise and digitally map all private providers (PPs) using Geographical Information System (GIS) in a rural district in India. A team of surveyors carried out a census of private providers in the district. This data was combined with official data on geophysical characteristics and infrastructure, demographic situation and location of settlements and public health care providers. This study highlights the need to consider PPs in health policy making in India. The survey identified about 2000 additional PPs over and above those listed with the health authorities. About half practised modern medicine (Allopathy) while the rest practised other types of formal medical systems (Ayurveda or Homeopathy) or informal therapeutic systems. Individuals with no formal health care training constituted the majority of PPs. Formally trained doctors were highly concentrated in urban areas while trained non-doctors and untrained PPs dominated in the rural areas. The study shows how GIS can be used to create an improved basis for health services research. In the future, the digitised map will be used as a sampling frame and point of reference for studies on quality and utilisation of PPs in Ujjain district. However, the utility for health care planning is less clear. GIS has limitations in countries like India due to lack of valid routine data to enter into GIS as well as to competing demand for health care resources.