EU Member States have agreed: “Infections know no borders”
The Czech Presidency has supported prudent use of antibiotics in hospitals.
One of the major outputs of the conference is the proposal for standards and measurable indicators for hospital antimicrobial programmes.
The two-day ministerial conference on the “Microbial Threat to Patient Safety in Europe” held on 15-16 April discussed the common priority of two Presidency Trios - antimicrobial resistance.
The spread of bacterial resistance to antibiotics raises morbidity and mortality, while increasing the length of hospital stays and costs for healthcare. Existing representative studies show frequent antibiotics overuse in primary care even in hospitals. The share of overused antibiotics goes up to several dozen percent of the whole volume of antibiotics used.
“The negative trend shows the loss of clinical effectiveness of antibiotics to an extent that was unforeseen only five years ago”, said Czech Health Minister Daniela Filipiová.
The spread of antimicrobial resistance is not caused only by the high antibiotics overuse, but also by the spread of resistant microorganisms in hospitals, where patients can get infected. Healthcare-associated infections rank among the most frequent and potentially the most dangerous causes of health impairments of hospital patients. The loss of effectiveness of antibiotics endangers further development of modern medicine, mainly in the areas of surgery, transplantation and oncology.
The Czech Republic as the country holding the EU Presidency considers the securing of safe and high-quality healthcare, including the provision of available and comprehensible information to European patients, to be of key importance. These goals are also included in the proposal for a Council Recommendation on patient safety, including the prevention and control of healthcare associated infections. The proposal is now being discussed by the working party of the EU Council for public health.
Infections prevention and control is not sufficient to maintain effective control of antimicrobial resistance. It is also necessary to secure prudent use of antibiotics in hospitals. The above measures should thus be complemented by the proposal for standards and measurable indicators for hospital antibiotic programmes.
The ministers of Finland, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden agreed at the end of the panel discussion that “it is necessary to strengthen the cooperation of EU Member States and the exchange of experience in implementing concrete national strategies, programmes and mechanisms of infection prevention and control”.
Contact:
- Andrea Mimrová, Spokeswoman for the Czech EU Presidency
- tel.: +420 224 972 424, mobile: +420 737 204 961; e-mail: andrea.mimrova@mzcr.cz
Last update: 16.8.2011 15:32
