The Deputy Minister of Health Prof. Emine Alp Meşe attended the fifth edition of the Rational Antibiotic Use and Awareness Symposium which was held online on the occasion of the World Antimicrobial Awareness Week.
Delivering an opening speech for the symposium, Meşe noted that antimicrobial resistance, especially antibiotic resistance, has become a global health issue.
Noting that the daily number of antibiotics consumed per 1000 people in Turkey decreased from 42.28 in 2001 to 31.86 in 2019, Meşe continued, "Similarly, Turkey has seen positive progress in antibiotics prescriptions. The rate of prescriptions involving an antibiotic decreased from 34.94% in 2011 to 23.87% in 2019. This indicates a fall of 32% in antibiotic prescriptions. In 2011, antibiotics made up 13.06% of total drug sales, which decreased to 8.01% in 2019."
Meşe also mentioned the COVID-19 pandemic and underlined the importance of COVID-19 Guidelines prepared by the Scientific Committee. Highlighting the importance of following the treatment algorithms set out in the guidelines, Meşe added, "Following the path of science will enable us to see the light at the end of the tunnel."
Meşe continued, "This pandemic has showed us the challenges of fighting infectious diseases. And science has showed us how important it is to make effective use out of our weapons against such infections. The challenges faced by the whole world in controlling and treating COVID-19 should not be forgotten. It is clear that we will face much more challenge in fighting resistance bacterial infections if we do not make rational use of the available treatments."
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