In Europe 33,000 died from resistant infections, a third in Italy – Libero Quotidiano

2023-07-05 18:38:00

Rome, July 5th. (time.news Salute) – Antibiotic resistance is increasingly a public health problem. In Europe, according to data from the World Health Organization, more than 670,000 drug-resistant infections are recorded every year, which kill about 33,000 people, of which almost a third in Italy – a country that ‘gains’ the record at European level – and absorb resources (healthcare and otherwise) for about 1.5 billion euros a year. These are some anticipated data on the eve of the scientific meeting ‘Antimicrobial resistance and One Health, current challenges and future perspectives’, organized by Vihtali, Value in Health Technology and Academy for Leadership and Innovation (spin off of the Catholic University), tomorrow in Rome .

Coordinating the event – Ecm accredited and with the non-conditioning sponsorship of Msd – Giovanna Elisa Calabrò, researcher of Hygiene at the Catholic University of Rome and operational director of Vihtali and Walter Ricciardi, professor of Hygiene at the Cattolica and president of the new national Observatory on antimicrobial resistance (Onsar). The aim of the meeting is to identify and promote strategies for controlling the phenomenon in our country, also in response to the new national plan to combat antimicrobial resistance.

In recent years – recalls a note – there have been more warning signals against healthcare associated infections and antimicrobial resistance from major international institutions, such as the World Health Organization, the European Commission, the European Center for control of infectious diseases (ECDC), with the aim of coordinating and strengthening all the prevention and control measures of these constantly increasing phenomena. The European Union has also been committed, for many years now, to combating the phenomenon. In Italy, in 2017, the ‘National plan to combat antimicrobial resistance (PNCAR) 2017-2020’ was approved. The PNCA, extended until 2021, was recently updated with a new plan which will be valid for the years 2022-2025.

Against this phenomenon, the experts explain, “a ‘One Health’ approach is needed, i.e. a joint effort of several professional disciplines (human and veterinary medicine, agri-food sector, environment, research and communication, economics and others) which operate, at local, national and global, with a common goal that can be summarized in three priority objectives: 1) to prevent and reduce infections, especially those associated with health care; 2) to promote and ensure the prudent use of antimicrobials; 3) to minimize minimize the incidence and spread of antibiotic resistance and the risks to human and animal health.

Antibiotic resistance “is a phenomenon that now requires a cultural change to which everyone is called, doctors and patients, to recognize the fundamental value of these important therapeutic resources, which have had a significant impact in terms of quality and duration of average life,” reads the note.