The prevalence of antibiotic resistance varies widely across the EU with some Member States having rates three times as high as the best performers. The event was able to highlight two Member States that have been able to control antibiotic resistance, France and Belgium.
Addressing the event Zsuzanna Jakob of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) urged the adoption of a European antibiotic awareness day for the Autumn of 2008.
Such a day would be able to highlight the basic approach to reducing the prevalence of antibiotic resistance: using antibiotics less often; using them correctly; and blocking the spread of resistant strains between people.
She noted how some aspects of antibiotic resistance - such as the prevalence of the Hospital infection MRSA had received widespread coverage across the EU as it increasingly infected the healthcare sector in Member States.
Experts such as French Professor Benoit Schlemmer of the University of Paris highlighted how people understood that reducing resistance to antibiotics required a reduction in their use and that people also understood that antibiotics were only effective against bacteria.
Professor Herman Goossens was able to outline a major publicity campaign in Belgium that had had been successful in increasing awareness of the need to combat antibiotic resistance.
John Bowis MEP, who suffers from diabetes, was able to convey his own story of being prescribed antibiotics for a one year period - a story that nearly made his own GP fall from his chair in surprise.
The challenge for any future antibiotic awareness day will be in overcoming the evidently persistent myth that endures across large parts of the EU that antibiotics offer some form of miracle cure all.
