The WHO Regional Office for Europe and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) have released a report on the consumption of antibiotics in countries across the WHO European Region. The report highlights changes in consumption of antibiotics in many countries, but it also highlights the need for more detailed data to improve strategies to reduce antimicrobial consumption across the European Region. Overuse of antibiotics raises the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), where infections become resistant to treatment and potentially life-threatening. The report found some differences in the use of antibiotics between two sets of countries, the ECDC’s European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption Network (ESAC-Net) and WHO/Europe’s Antimicrobial Medicines Consumption (AMC) Network. The findings show a significant decrease in the consumption of antibacterials in eight ESAC-Net countries: Denmark, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. However, figures for the AMC Network were less clear, reflecting the more complicated nature of data collection.
