The health care system will not achieve the goals of reducing antibiotic use

Since 2012, the use of antibiotics has dropped by 24 percent, according to a new report. The target is a 30 percent reduction during 2020. That goal has not been achieved.

On Thursday, the Directorate of Health presented a status report for Norwegian antibiotic use. It shows that if all the hospitals had reduced the use of antibiotics as much as the hospitals that were reducing the most, they would have achieved the government’s target for antibiotic use.

The government’s action plan for antibiotic resistance has a target of a 30 percent reduction by the end of 2020. That goal will not be achieved, according to the report.

– ‘If all health enterprises had the same consumption as the average for the five companies that are the lowest, and which are not specialized hospitals, we would probably have reached the target in the action plan for a 30 percent reduction,’ Health Director Bjørn Guldvog writes in a press release.

Guldvog is clear on what it takes to reach the goal.

– We need to use antibiotics to an even greater extent only when needed. Some GPs, nursing homes and hospitals are able to achieve the goals for reduced antibiotic use, Guldvog.

He believes that it shows that it is possible to achieve the goals.

– Now we have to work further, so that everyone gets on par with the best, Guldvog writes.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today