The therapeutic impact of inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics is debatable, particularly in situations where infections are treated empirically with multiply prescribed antibiotics. Prescribers may remain under the illusion that such prescriptions are appropriate on the basis of any observed positive treatment outcomes, even though an antibiotic prescribed in such combination therapy may actually be infective against infecting pathogens. This, inevitably, promotes inappropriate antibiotic prescribing. Prescribers may be motivated to make more conscious attempts to prescribe antibiotics appropriately if it is proven that judicious prescribing of antibiotics has positive impacts on treatment outcomes. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of appropriate prescribing of antibiotics on treatment outcomes, days of patient hospitalization and costs related to antibiotic treatment. Observational data on antibiotic treatment were collected for a one-month period from case notes of all inpatients (n=307) and outpatients (n=865) at five government and mission hospitals in Lesotho. Prescriptions were classified into categories of appropriateness based on extents to which antibiotics were prescribed according to principles. Treatment success rates, mean days of hospitalization and costs of antibiotic treatments of inpatients treated with specified prescription categories were determined. Appropriate prescribing of antibiotics for inpatients had positive impacts on treatment outcomes, patients’ days of hospitalization for infections and costs of antibiotic treatments. In outpatient settings, appropriate prescribing of antibiotics failed to show any significant impact on costs of antibiotics. Appropriate prescribing of antibiotics had a positive impact on patients’ recovery and costs of antibiotic treatments in inpatient settings.

Abstract. Statistics plays an important and vital role in every domain of human activity. Thinking about numbers is becoming so critical that in all facets of the society, people in academia, business and governments need to rely on data in order to take optimal decisions.Despite the high demand of statisticians and data analyst in Africa, there is a persistent concern that African students are not pursuing degrees in statistics at under and post graduate levels in sufficient number to meet the demand and developmental challenges Africa is facing.Thus in order to address multi-sectorial challenges in Africa, we call for efforts to enhance awareness of careers in statistics and related analytics fields among high students throughout Africa. Also, there is a need to systematically document the current and future needs for statisticians in Africa. Résumé (By the Editor):Les statistiques jouent un rôle important et vital dans tous les domaines de l'activité humaine. L'utilisation des données dans la gestion de tous les tous les aspects de la société est devenue si cruciale et importante que les universitaires et chercheurs, les homme d'affaires et les gouvernements ont impérativement besoin de données fiables pour prendre des décisions optimales.En dépit de la grande demande en statisticiens et d'analystes de données, il y a toujours une grande et persistence inquiétude de voir que lesétudiants poursuivant desétudes supérieures statistiques, ne sont pas suffisemment nombreux pour combler le déficit.

No abstract