European Parliament calls for immediate action to tackle antimicrobial resistance

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European Parliament calls for immediate action to tackle antimicrobial resistance

12.12.12

Yesterday the European Parliament passed a resolution on the Microbial Challenge – Rising threats from Antimicrobial Resistance. The resolution called for immediate action to tackle antimicrobial resistance. EFPIA strongly supports this non-binding report and its prudent-use guidelines to reduce non-essential exposure to them in human and veterinary medicine. As stated in the report over 25,000 people die throughout Europe due to bacteria that are resistant to antimicrobial drugs. We as an industry are committed to fight these by finding new cures but also by pushing for a more sensible use of the antimicrobial medicines that are already available on the market.

We also agree that there must also be better coordination across the EU and internationally, regarding the research and development of antimicrobial medicines. EFPIA along with the European Commission have launched the Innovative Medicines Initiative a public-private partnership (PPP), aimed at increasing development of better and safer medicines for patients on issues such as antimicrobial medicines. This is part of the European Commissions’ Action Plan against the rising threats from Antimicrobial Resistance. It is projects like this that are needed to find effective answers to these growing problems.