Finland’s Health and Social Care Ministry has lent its support to the idea that Nordic countries should decide on a joint limit on antibiotics use, to bring prescriptions in the region down to the lowest levels in Europe.
The ministry described over-prescription of antibiotic medicines as a growing problem which should be actively combatted to prevent antibiotics becoming ineffective.
The recommendation for cross-Nordic action was made in a report by former Swedish health minister Bo Könberg, which explores ways of deepening cooperation in the healthcare sector across Scandinavia and Finland. Könberg also recommends that Nordic countries bring the fight against microbial resistance into the international forum, and that rich countries take part in developing new antibiotics.
Könberg’s report, commissioned by the health ministries of the Nordic countries and by the Nordic Council of Ministers, looked for ways to broaden healthcare cooperation within the region in the next five to ten years.
In total the report makes 14 recommendations. In addition to limiting antibiotic use, the report proposes measures to improve the handling of rare diseases, research registration, patient mobility and training for healthcare staff and managers.
