Health Council adopts Recommendation on prudent use of antimicrobials

Ministers at the European Union’s Health Council meeting in Brussels on 15 November 2001 adopted unanimously a Recommendation on the prudent use of antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents in human medicine (see also IP/01/1596) (1). The Recommendation asks national governments to take measures to contain the spread of antimicrobial resistance by encouraging a more prudent use of antibiotics. Member states are asked to raise awareness and provide information to the general public, to use a precautionary approach (by prescription only), and to improve monitoring of consumption of these drugs.