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Spain ranks as the 6th country with the largest reduction in antibiotic consumption in human health among the 25 countries with data reported to the ECDC (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control), since the start of the National Plan against Antibiotic Resistance (PRAN) in 2014 until 2020.
Antibiotic consumption in Spain saw a drop of 32.4% in human health and 56.7% in animal health between 2014 and 2020, a very notable decrease according to data from PRAN and the ECDC.
In the case of animal health, pending the publication of the next ESVAC report, in the period 2019-2020 there was an upturn in sales of veterinary antibiotics (broad-spectrum penicillins and tetracyclines) that may reflect the context of the pandemic and fears of shortages.
In any case, when analyzed in the European context for the period 2014-2020, these data confirm that Spain is no longer one of the top antibiotic-consuming countries in the EU. In the case of veterinary antibiotic sales, Spain went from 418.8 mg/PCU (milligrams of active ingredient per Population Correction Unit) in 2014 to 181.2 mg/PCU in 2020.
The "silent pandemic"
This decreasing trend is particularly relevant if one considers that bacterial resistance is already a global health risk and that it is a phenomenon caused mainly by the excessive or inadequate consumption of antibiotics. Around 33,000 people die each year in Europe as a result of resistant infections, some 4,000 deaths in Spain, which is four times more than the deaths caused by traffic accidents.
The spokesperson of the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS), María Jesús Lamas, outlined the priorities of the PRAN 2022-2024, among which she highlighted the implementation of the new National Surveillance System, the promotion of the Programs for the Optimization of Antibiotic Use (PROA) and the expansion of the REDUCE Programs in animal health. She also highlighted the broadcasting on television of the new campaign "Antibiotics: take them seriously" and announced the launch of two applications aimed at healthcare professionals.
November 18, 2021/ PRAN/ Spain.
https://www.resistenciaantibioticos.es/es
