The first Australian Atlas of Healthcare Variation has suggested restricting access to amoxicillin-clauvanate as a way of reducing the high rates of community antimicrobial use.
The Atlas, just released by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, shows that 2013–14 more than 30 million PBS prescriptions for antimicrobials were dispensed.
The report noted that many of these were unnecessary because antimicrobials were frequently used to treat infections for which they provide little or no benefit.
Amoxycillin was the most commonly dispensed antimicrobial in Australia, followed by amoxycillin‑clavulanate.
Combined, the two antimicrobials accounted for more than 10 million prescriptions dispensed under the PBS in Australia in 2013–14.
There were wide variations across geographical areas, with rates of amoxycillin‑clavulanate dispensing 16 times more in the area with the highest rate compared with the area with the lowest rate.