Variation in antibiotic use in the European Union

Data on antibiotic use are not publicly available in most European Union co untries. We obtained data for non-hospital antibiotic sales for 1997 from t he 15 member states and analysed these according to the Anatomic Therapeuti c Chemical classification system, and expressed them as defined daily doses per 1000 people per day. Sales of antibiotics varied more than four-fold: Fiance (36.5), Spain (32.4), Portugal (28.8), and Belgium (26.7) had the hi ghest sales, whereas the Netherlands (8.9), Denmark (11.3), Sweden (13.5), and Germany (13.6) had the lowest. There was also profound variation in use of different classes of antibiotics. Detailed knowledge of antibiotic use is necessary to implement national strategies for optimum antibiotic use, a nd to address the threat posed by resistant microorganisms.