Human consumption of antibiotics decreased by 2.5% in the European Union (EU) between 2019 and 2022, indicating “slow progress” in relation to the 2030 target of a 20% reduction in antibiotic intake. medications, it was announced this Friday.
The conclusion is contained in the most recent report from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on antibiotic consumption (in hospitals and in the community) and which compares data between 2019 and 2022.
In Portugal, the intake of these medicines, used to treat infections caused by bacteria, fell by 2.6% in the same period, slightly above the EU average.
According to the ECDC, in 2022 antibiotic consumption in Europe showed signs of recovery after the “unprecedented reductions” observed in 2020 and 2021.
“This may indicate that winter respiratory virus patterns, social contacts, hygiene habits and antibiotic prescribing practices may now be similar to what they were before the Covid-19 pandemic,” the health agency states. EU public.
Quoted in a statement, the director of the ECDC, Andrea Ammon, warns that “antimicrobial resistance remains a major challenge”, underlining that “greater efforts are essential to reduce unnecessary use of antibiotics and improve prevention and control practices of infections to meet the objectives for 2030”.
According to the ECDC, the incidence of infections due to the bacteria ‘Klebsiella pneumoniae’, resistant to carbapenem antibiotics, increased by almost 50% between 2019 and 2022, when the objective set by the EU for 2030 is a 5% reduction in these infections. infections.
For the director of the ECDC, these are worrying data, since “there are very few effective treatments available for patients with these infections.”
The data were published on the eve of European Antibiotic Awareness Day, which is celebrated annually with the launch of a campaign to encourage the prudent use of these medicines.
Source: TSF
