The irrational use of antibiotics poses a threat to public health. The World Health Organization has warned that if measures are not taken to combat the irrational use of antibiotics, about 10 million people will die worldwide due to antimicrobial resistance by 2050. Of these, about 700,000 will be witnessed in the European region, IPN reports.

“The health of people, animals and environment: One health for everyone” is the slogan launched by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection for the World Antibiotic Awareness Week.

Stela Gheorghiță, programs coordinator of the World Health Organization Country Office in Moldova, said the problem of bacterial and microorganism resistance to antibiotics is a global one. This is caused by the irrational use of antibiotics. “About 33,000 people died due to antimicrobial resistance last year at European level alone,” she stated.

Worldwide, the costs determined by the bacterial antibiotic resistance were estimated at over €1.5bn. The costs of medical care for a patient who developed antibiotic resistance vary between €10,000 to €40,000. These costs are caused by the extended duration of treatment and cost of the equipment needed for looking after these patients.

Aliona Serbulenko, secretary of state at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection, said the number of diseases caused by bacterial antibiotic resistance has increased. At the same time, the pace of discovering new antimicrobial preparations has slowed down significantly. Only 1 in 16 discovered antibiotics are applied clinically. It is estimated that the deaths due to bacterial antibiotic resistance will outnumber the deaths caused by cancer by 2050.

In Moldova, antibiotics represent 10% of the available medicines. Official figures show the consumption of antibiotics in Moldova between 2011 and 2014 fell from 21 doses of antibiotics to 17 doses per 1,000 people.

Gheorghe Gaberi, director of the National Food Safety Agency, said a part of the antibiotics penetrate the human body by the consumed meat of animals treated with antibiotics. He called on the population and veterinarians to avoid administering antibiotics when treating birds and animals when it is possible. The Agency tests the meat, milk and eggs and does not allow selling those with too high concentrations of antibiotics.