Following a public consultation to which the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) responded, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has developed a proposal for EU-wide guidelines on the prudent use of antimicrobials in human medicine.
The proposal is intended to help support the development of national guidelines and recommendations in all EU Member States.
25,000 people die annually throughout the EU from infections related to antibiotic-resistant bacteria and combatting this challenge has been made a major EU priority. Infections due to multidrug-resistant bacteria in the EU also result in additional healthcare costs and productivity losses amounting to at least €1.5 billion each year.