As recommended by the Belgian Health Care Knowledge Centre (KCE), a new step in the fight against anti-microbial resistance has been taken: the 2019 edition of the Belgian Antibiotic Policy Coordination Committee (BAPCOC)’s antibiotics guide is available online on the Belgian Pharmacotherapy Information Centre (CBIP) website.
The FAMHP wants to take advantage of this year’s global antibiotic awareness week to remind the public that here in Belgium, we use more antibiotics than the European average for outpatient cases, in nursing homes, and in animals bred for food production. In light of this observation, and at the request of the Federal Public Service Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment (SPF Public Health), the Belgian Health Care Knowledge Centre (KCE) has sought to understand why this is the case and has come up with recommendations for improvement (available in French and Dutch).
Among these recommendations from April 2019, the KCE has drawn particular attention to the need to make the “Belgian guide to anti-infective treatments in outpatient practice”, published by the Belgian Antibiotic Policy Coordination Committee (BAPCOC), more easily accessible to health care professionals.
For a number of years now, the FAMHP has also been strongly committed to an intersectoral approach to the fight against anti-microbial resistance (AMR) in collaboration with the relevant authorities: the SPF Public Health, Sciensano, the Federal Agency for Food Chain Safety, the Knowledge Centre for the Use of Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance in Animals, the BAPCOC and the Belgian Pharmacotherapy Information Centre. Consequently, the FAMHP has been actively working alongside its partners to find the most suitable solution to facilitate access to information on antibiotics: the publication of the full 2019 edition of the BAPCOC’s antibiotics guide on the CBIP website.
Online access to the “Guide to anti-infective treatments in outpatient practice” through the CBIP website offers several advantages:
- the CBIP is a source of independent scientific and medical information that is known to and used by health care professionals in Belgium;
- in electronic format the guide will be easier to find and information can be updated more quickly.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the fight against anti-microbial resistance (AMR) is one of the greatest challenges we face today. The misuse of antibiotics makes bacteria increasingly resistant, resulting in illnesses that are harder to treat, more frequent hospitalisations, and deaths. Resistant bacteria or resistance genes can be passed from humans to animals, and vice versa, so prevention campaigns for the fight against AMR should target both human and veterinary sectors, as well as the environmental sector.
More information
- Global antibiotic awareness week: veterinary medicine should also be placed under the microscope (FAMHP) (in French and Dutch)
- Proposals for a more effective antibiotics policy in Belgium (KCE)
- Knowledge Centre for the use of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance in animals (in French and Dutch))
- New BAPCOC recommendations concerning the outpatient treatment of respiratory infections are available online (CBIP) (in French and Dutch)