Antibiotic Control Policies in South Korea, 2000-2013

Abstract

Antibiotic stewardship is a key strategy for limiting antibiotic resistance. Over the last decade the South Korean government has implemented a series of healthcare policies directed to this end, consisting of legislative separation of drug prescribing and dispensing, antibiotic utilization reviews, healthcare quality assessment, and public reporting. As a result, the proportion of antibiotic prescriptions for acute upper respiratory tract infections in primary healthcare facilities decreased from 72.9% in 2002 to 42.7% in 2013. However, no significant decrease in antibiotic resistance occurred over the same period in clinically important bacteria such as Streptococcus pneumoniae. These government-driven policies played a pivotal role in improving antibiotic use for outpatients and surgical patients in South Korea. However, to achieve long-lasting successful outcomes, coordinated efforts and communications among the stakeholders, including physicians and medical societies, are needed.

Changes in Antimicrobial Usage Patterns in Korea: 12-Year Analysis Based on Database of the National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort

“…Korea remains a country with heavy antimicrobial usage 16 , 24 ; its 2013 national average (28.4 DDD/1,000 inhabitants/day) exceeds the OECD average (20.4 DDD/1,000 inhabitants/day) 22 . New systems were introduced in Korea upon the turn of the 21 st century to increase the quality of medicine and reduce the use of antimicrobials 25 , 26 , including the separation of dispensing and prescribing in 2000, drug-use assessment (including antimicrobials) in 2001, public reporting of the rate of antibiotics use for URI in 2006, and assessment of antimicrobial use for surgical prophylaxis 27 .…”

Increased use of third‐generation cephalosporin antibiotics in the outpatient setting in Korean children and adolescents

“…The French government's campaign to disseminate information on judicious prescribing of antibiotics had the greatest impact on the use of antibiotics in young children . Likewise, the government of Korea introduced various initiatives to control the use of antibiotics, such as drug utilization review and public reporting of antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections . In a 2015 survey, 92.6% of hospitals in Korea introduced antimicrobial stewardship programs to control the use of antibiotics, but according to the present study, more efforts are needed to control the use of broad spectrum antibiotics in pediatric patients.…”

“…8 To reduce antibiotic use in Korea, the government also implemented a number of policy measures, including antibiotic utilization review, health quality assessment, and antibiotic stewardship, which may have contributed to a marked decline in the use of antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections in the primary health-care setting from 2002 to 2013. 9 Despite the various efforts, however, infants under the age of 2 years in Korea had a higher rate of antibiotic consumption than their peers in other industrialized countries, 10 and there were higher rates of penicillin and multidrug resistance in children in Korea than in other Asian countries. 11 The scope of previous studies on the trends of outpatient pediatric antibiotic use in Korea was limited to the diagnosis of acute upper respiratory tract infections and antibiotic use in the primary health-care settings.…”

“…11 The scope of previous studies on the trends of outpatient pediatric antibiotic use in Korea was limited to the diagnosis of acute upper respiratory tract infections and antibiotic use in the primary health-care settings. 9,12 The aim of the present study was to examine the general trend in outpatient systemic antibiotic prescriptions in children and adolescents for all diagnoses in all health-care settings in Korea, from 2010 to 2014. In addition, this study analyzed outpatient antibiotic prescription patterns by age group and antibiotic drug class as well as seasonal fluctuations in antibiotic use.…”

Can the Use of Antibiotics Alter the Susceptibility to Allergic Diseases?

“…The Korean government has implemented a variety of policy measures including antibiotic use reviews, health quality assessments, and stewardship of antibiotics to reduce the use of antibiotics, resulting in a marked decrease in the use of antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections. 8 Despite the various efforts, however, infants under 2 years of age had higher antibiotic consumption than their counterparts in other developed countries. 9 If antibiotic exposure in early life is associated with allergic diseases, it is an additional reason to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use in children.…”