Norwegians use less antibiotics. Since 2012, the use has been reduced by 23 percent, according to the Pharmacies’ industry statistics.
Measured in the number of daily doses per capita, the use of antibiotics decreased by 3.8 percent from 2017 to 2018.
“The authorities have set a goal that the use of antibiotics should be reduced by 30 percent from 2012 to 2020. In order to achieve this goal, an effort must still be made,” says specialist director Per Kristian Faksvåg in the Pharmacy Association.
“ If we want to keep antibiotics as an effective remedy for infections in the future, it is both necessary to become more restrictive in use and to use narrow-spectrum antibiotics whenever possible. Only then can we reduce the risk of the bacteria becoming resistant,” he says.
Faksvåg adds that more use of the influenza vaccine is also a good measure to reduce the use of antibiotics.
Throughout the period there has been a decrease of 24 percent in the number of doses of antibiotics sold from pharmacies to prescription customers. The decline in hospitals and other institutions has been 18 percent.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
