Romania ranked sixth in the world in terms of antibiotic consumption rate in 2015, according to a study published in the journal of the American Academy of Sciences and quoted by Le Figaro, local Hotnews.ro reported.

Global consumption of antibiotics increased by 65% between 2000 and 2015, an advance considered worrying by researchers, as bacteria develop strategies for resistance to these drugs. The World Health Organization has stated that antibiotic resistance is one of the most serious threats to world health.

“The increase in global consumption was primarily driven by increased consumption in LMICs (low- and middle-income countries e.n.). In 2000, HICs (high-income countries e.n.), led by France, New Zealand, Spain, Hong Kong, and the United States, had the highest antibiotic consumption rates. In 2015, four of the six countries with the highest consumption rates were LMICs (Turkey, Tunisia, Algeria, and Romania),” said the authors of the study, who analyzed the data from 76 countries around the world.

The full study is available here.

Over 600,000 Romanians get antibiotic treatment every day

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com