In the resolution recently adopted by the EU Parliament Health Committee, MEPs urge the Commission and member states to restrict the sale of antibiotics by human and animal health professionals, and to remove any incentives for prescribing them. The correct and prudent use of antimicrobials is essential to limiting the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in human healthcare, animal husbandry and aquaculture.
The text also highlights that preventive measures, such as good hygiene, should be scaled up in order to reduce the human demand for antibiotics.
The EFN believes that AMR is a professional and political challenge that requires the engagement of the frontline nurses. Due to nurses’ close relation with citizens and patients and their unique role in infection prevention and control, and hygiene, nurses are, as part of a multi-disciplinary team, one of the most influential actors to combat AMR frontline. Therefore, AMR can only be tackled frontline by ‘fit for purpose’ health policies and national AMR Action Plans reflecting the nurses voice.