The excessive use of antibiotics has made them lose their effectiveness; bacteria are becoming more and more resistant. This problem also applies to Poland – experts alarmed during the Thursday conference organized by the WHO and the Ministry of Health.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for action to stem the development of antibiotic resistance on the occasion of World Health Day on Thursday.
During the conference, Deputy Minister of Health Adam Fronczak recalled that the National Antibiotic Protection Program is being implemented in Poland. As he said, the increase in the use of these drugs poses a serious threat to the health of patients. 41 percent adult Poles have used antibiotics in the last 12 months, and 63 percent. – during the last 24 months. The situation is alarming – said the deputy minister. He added that this problem would be one of the topics of the Polish presidency.
Chairwoman of the National Antibiotic Protection Program at the National Medicines Institute, prof. Waleria Hryniewicz emphasized that the increase in the use of antibiotics is tantamount to an increase in the resistance of bacterial strains. There are less and less effective drugs – she added.
Director of the National Institute of Public Health – National Institute of Hygiene prof. Mirosław Wysocki informed that work on a new antibiotic is underway at the National Institute of Hygiene.
The WHO warns that the growing and rapidly spreading resistance to antibiotics among the microorganisms that cause the most important and serious infections is an extremely dangerous phenomenon. As a consequence, the possibility of successfully treating the infection is limited. Morbidity and mortality are increasing.
The organization emphasizes that the interest of pharmaceutical companies in the search for new antimicrobial drugs has decreased. In the last twenty years, only two new antibiotics have been introduced, and they have very narrow indications. The WHO calls for the use of antibiotics only where they can really benefit.
WHO reports that one of the main problems in the fight against infections is the insufficient use of bacteriological diagnostics. Only 55 percent. In cases, doctors know what strain is causing the meningitis. In the case of sepsis or pneumonia, it can be even worse.
The health organization emphasizes that errors in antibiotic therapy are caused by insufficient education of doctors in this field. According to WHO, doctors, even in hospital practice, and especially in the case of severe infections, do not always collect culture material to identify microorganisms. Such actions endanger the health and life of the patient, as well as the emergence and spread of resistant strains (PAP).