Malta is among four EU states with the highest incidence of the so-called hospital superbug MRSA.
The situation in Malta was singled out as one of the more worrying in the EU in a presentation yesterday by Marc Sprenger, director of the EU’s Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
He was speaking ahead of the launch of a five-year action plan meant to fight the problem.
Malta’s unenviable podium position is shared with Italy, Greece and Spain.
The report renews concerns about the prevalence of the bug in Maltese hospitals. Malta also has a culture of antibiotics overuse, which acts to make the already highly resistant bug even harder to treat.
In an EU survey conducted by Eurobarometer last year, 55 per cent of the Maltese interviewed admitted to having used antibiotics in the preceding 12 months. The average in the EU stood at 40 per cent.
Launching a new EU-wide initiative aimed at raising awareness across the bloc about the effects of antibiotics abuse, both in humans and in animals, European Health Commissioner John Dalli said “swift and determined action” was needed if the EU was not to lose anti-microbial medicines as essential treatment against bacterial infections.
Mr Dalli introduced a 12-point action plan, including awareness raising, strengthening laws and further research, to be implemented by the 27 member states over the next five years. He said these steps could help limit the spread of antimicrobial resistance and develop new treatments.
The latest ECDC research shows that resistance to last-line antibiotics is increasing in Europe. For example,resistance to pathogens, which frequently cause pneumonia and infections of the urinary tract, is growing is now established in several countries.
Apart from serious health problems, antimicrobial resistance is also having a significant financial impact. According to the ECDC, it costs the EU €1.5 billion a year in additional health care and loss of productivity.
Inappropriate use of antimicrobial agents, such as treating viral infections with antibiotics, adds to this financial burden as it leads to reimbursement for medicines that should not have been taken in the first place.
It is calculated that 25,000 patients die every year in the EU from infections caused by drug resistant bacteria.
How to fight the bug
1 Improve awareness on the appropriate use of antimicrobials.
2 Strengthen EU law on veterinary medicines and on medicated feed for farm animals.
3 Introduce recommendations for prudent use of antimicrobials in veterinary medicine, including follow- up reports.
4 Strengthen infection prevention and control in hospitals, clinics, etc.
5 Introduce legal tools to tighten prevention and control of infections in animals in the new EU animal health law.
6 Promote unprecedented collaboration with the industry to bring new antimicrobials to patients.
7 Promote efforts to analyse the need for new antibiotics in veterinary medicine.
8 Develop and/or strengthen multilateral and bilateral commitments for the prevention and control of AMR.
9 Strengthen surveillance systems on AMR and antimicrobial consumption in human medicines.
10 Strengthen surveillance systems on AMR and antimicrobial consumption in animal medicines.
11 Reinforce and coordinate research.
12 Improve communication on AMR to the public.