Public health campaigns should seek to improve awareness of self-limiting illnesses and reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistance, according to proposals published today.
These would include illnesses such as flu, colds and earache, according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
The draft guidance follows a controversial set of proposals published in August. These sought to put pressure on doctors to reduce antibiotic prescribing.
NICE says that public health authorities should seek to educate the public about self-limiting conditions.
This includes advising the public not to use GPs and A&E departments as the first port of call. Instead they can use pharmacies and reliable health resources, such as NHS Choices.
There should also be national campaigns to stop the spread of infection and stressing the importance of handwashing, it says.
It also calls for advice to be given in healthcare settings, including leaflets and posters, to warn of the effects of overusing antimicrobial drugs and give advice on how to manage self-limiting illnesses without prescriptions.
Professor Gillian Leng, from NICE, said: “The over-use of antibiotics in the last 30 years has led to microbial resistance, and with so few new antibiotics being developed, this could result in once-treatable infections becoming fatal in years to come.
"This new draft guideline focuses on interventions to help change people’s behaviour, and reduce antimicrobial resistance.
"It also aims to increase awareness, to both the public and healthcare professionals, of the overuse and misuse of antibiotics, and the risks this could involve.”
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