Spread of resistant bacteria reduced

The spread of major multidrug-resistant bacteria has been controlled at medical institutions in China, according to Xiao Yonghong, a top health adviser and a professor of infectious diseases.

Health authorities have been emphasizing the control of bacterial drug resistance and the rational use of antibiotics, and efforts made in the past 10 years have yielded noticeable results, said Xiao, a member of the National Health and Family Planning Commission's expert committee for rational use of drugs and a professor at Zhejiang University's First Affiliated Hospital.

Last year, antibiotics dispensed at medical institutions across China accounted for 11.2 percent of the total value of all drugs sold at those institutions, compared with 19.7 percent in 2010, he said.