Antibiotic resistance highest in Turkey among OECD countries
Antibiotic resistance is highest in Turkey among OECD countries, a Nov. 7 report by the organization showed.
Resistance proportions for eight high-priority antibiotic-bacterium combinations increased from 14 percent in 2005 to 17 percent in 2015 across OECD countries. There were pronounced differences between the countries, according to the report titled “Stemming the Superbug Tide: Just A Few Dollars More.”
“The average resistance proportions in Turkey, Korea and Greece [about 35 percent] were seven times higher than in Iceland, Netherlands and Norway, the countries with the lowest proportions [about 5 percent],” it added.
At least one in three medical prescriptions in Turkey includes antibiotics, a board member at the Turkish Clinical Microbiology and Epidemic Diseases Association (KLİMİK) said in October last year.
Prof. Dr. Önder Ergönül warned that immune systems are increasingly adapting to higher doses of antibiotics.
“Turkey is the top consumer of antibiotics among OECD countries,” Ergönül stated, adding that new infections immune to all types of antibiotics are emerging.
In its report, the OECD warned that superbug infections could cost the lives of around 2.4 million people in Europe, North America and Australia over the next 30 years unless more is done to stem antibiotic resistance.
The report said that three out of four deaths could be averted by spending just $2 per person a year on measures as simple as handwashing and more prudent prescription of antibiotics.
Southern Europe risks being particularly affected, according to the report.
Italy, Greece and Portugal are forecast to top the list of OECD countries with the highest mortality rates from AMR (Antimicrobial Resistance) while the United States, Italy and France would have the highest absolute death rates, with almost 30,000 AMR deaths a year forecast in the U.S. alone by 2050, it noted.
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