The Government Delegation values the renewal of the agreement between the Xunta and the Government of Spain to reduce the consumption of antibiotics in the hospital environment. The Official State Gazette today publishes the text that renews this collaboration for four more years and prolongs the joint work of the Ministry of Health (through the Spanish Medicines Agency) and the Ministry of Health.
Through this agreement, the Antibiotic Use Optimization Programs (PROA) will continue to be developed in Galicia, both in the hospital field and in the Primary Care field. These programs work on optimizing the prescription of antibiotics to improve the prognosis of patients who need them, minimize adverse effects, control the appearance of resistance and ensure the use of cost-effective treatments.
The Government Delegation recalls that PROAs are one of the measures of the National Antibiotic Resistance Plan (PRAN), a strategic and action plan that is now in its third phase of implementation (2022-2024).
This plan, managed by the Spanish Medicines Agency of the Ministry of Health, has 6 strategic lines and 80 measures implemented and involves all the autonomous communities, 10 ministries, 70 scientific societies, collegial organizations, professional associations, universities and more than 300 expert collaborators.
The work led by the Government in this field in recent years made it possible for Spain to become one of the countries that recorded the greatest reduction in the consumption of antibiotics in the EU. According to data from the Ministry of Health, since the first National Antibiotic Resistance Plan was approved, Spain recorded a 13% decrease in antibiotic consumption in human health and 69% in animal health.
Within the Spanish Presidency of the European Union, the Ministry of Health considers the fight against antimicrobial resistance as one of the priorities, in line with the consideration of the WHO, which identifies this resistance as one of the most serious threats to global public health.