Abstract
Introduction: Antibiotics are one of the key discoveries in human history. Unfortunately, the global rise in antimicrobial drug resistance has become one of the most pressing medical problems. Monitoring of antibiotic consumption is one of the most important components of all programs aimed at controlling the problem with the rising antimicrobial resistance. Aim: The aim of this article is to present a free and internationally standardized electronic-based method for calculating the consumption of antibiotics in hospitals and in society. Methodology: The system for classification of antibiotic agents ATC/DDD (Anatomical Therapeutic Chemi-cal/Defined Daily Dose), which is an international standard for calculation of antibiotic consumption in a univer-sal technical unit of measurement—defined daily dose, is used. Practical Examples and Recommendations: The problem with the increasing antibiotic resistance was first discussed internationally at The Microbial Threat conference in Copenhagen in 1998. Monitoring antibiotic consumption is one of the key components of The European Community Strategy Against Antimicrobial Re-sistance from 2001. For the convenience of the users, open-source free software programs, incorporating the ATC/DDD system, such as ABC Calc and AMC Tool have been created for easy calculation of antimicrobial consumption. Discussion: According to the latest ECDC report, total antibiotic consumption in EU countries has been decreasing since 2014, with data for 2020 showing that antimicrobial consumption has decreased further during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The only exception is Bulgaria, where it has doubled. Conclusion: ECDC data show that our country lags significantly behind other EU countries and immediate strict measures and actions are needed to combat the rising tide of antimicrobial resistance. Given the availabil-ity of free open-source programs for monitoring antimicrobial consumption, it would be very helpful to use them more widely in Bulgarian hospitals, and hospital pharmacists should play a key role in this process.
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