Brussels, 20/06/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European commission adopted a communication proposing a Community strategy to combat antimicrobial resistance that places into question the effectiveness of medical treatments used against bacterial and fungae infections, as well as certain viruses and parasites. This Communication comes together with a recommendation to the Council on the cautious use on antimicrobial agents in human medicine.
The Commission proposes setting up a Community strategy comprising four fields of action: - epidemiological surveillance: it is particularly a question of strengthening the functioning of the European antimicrobial resistance surveillance system (EARSS) in which 23 countries already participate (the EU Fifteen and Iceland, Norway, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Malta, Israel), notably by improving data collection that has also to be made comparable. The Commission is also considering developing surveillance in veterinary medicine; - prevention: the Commission recommends tightening the obligation for prescriptions for antimicrobial medicines. It also pleads in favour of (1) the drawing up of guidelines for the "prudent use" of these substances, (2) improvement of infection prevention (immunisation programmes, combating nosocomial diseases, etc.), (3) better public information, 4) the setting up of specific training for health professionals; - research: the Commission proposes encouraging research into the development of resistances, and on methods for diagnosis allowing for an early treatment of transmissible diseases; - international cooperation: the communication refers in particular to cooperation with candidate countries and developing countries.