Bulgaria hosts roundtable on rational use of antibiotics in children

On 1 June 2016, the Healthcare Committee at the 43rd National Assembly in Bulgaria together with the patient organization "Together with you" organized a roundtable discussion on the role of physicians, pharmacists and patients to encourage the rational use of antibiotics in children.

Dr Danilo Lo Fo Wong, Programme Manager, Control of Antimicrobial Resistance at WHO/Europe, and Dr Michail Okoliyski, Head of WHO Country Office in Bulgaria, represented WHO. They delivered presentations on the WHO perspectives on the use and misuse of antibiotics in children.

Members of the Healthcare Committee, the Ministry of Health, the Administration of the President of Bulgaria, the Council of Ministers, the nongovernmental sector and professional organizations – the Bulgarian Association of Health Professionals in Nursing, the Bulgarian Dental Association and the Bulgarian Medical Association, among others – and physicians took part in the discussion.

The main reason that 70% of hospital beds are occupied is due to antimicrobial resistance, stated a Bulgarian high-level microbiologist. One of the major reasons for the increase of antimicrobial resistance in the country is the use of second- and third-generation antibiotics and their prescription often without the respective antibiogram.

The national forum was unanimous in that a national plan on antimicrobial resistance and the rational use of antibiotics in Bulgaria is highly needed, and should be based on a multisectoral approach. Development of a national plan will be supported by WHO and its Country Office as part of the activities in the 2016–2017 biennial collaborative agreement between WHO/Europe and Bulgaria. Urgent and integrated measures by the whole society (patients, institutions, experts and the media) are needed to fight antimicrobial resistance.