Antibiotic Resistance in Spain: What to do? Report of a Expert Pannel

Abstract

This document represents the recommendations of a panel of Spanish experts on antibiotic use and resistance. In a Task Forte, under the auspices of the Spanish Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs that took place in 1994 in Madrid, the members were gravely concerned about the national increase in antibiotic resistance. They analysed the development, evolution and spread of antihiotic resistance among community - acquired human bacterial pathogens in Spain. its relation with antibiotic consumption, and they proposed future surveillance strategies for monitoring the patterns of antibiotic use and consumption. Success will require a collectivie action among the producers (pharmaceutical industry). prescribers (doctors, veterinarians). dispensers (pharmacists). and consumers (patiens). Two similar documents have been recently published by the Ameritan Society of Microbiology and the World Health Organization showing the global concem about this topic.