Today is the European antibiotic day, and much of the focus is on the work against antibiotic resistance. A problem that grows as bacteria develop over time with resistance to the drugs we use to manage them, while fewer and fewer new types of antibiotics are reaching the market. And even though Sweden is far ahead in work from several aspects, it is also increasing here.

"This is a development that we are actively working to slow down, but it is not something that we can see that we can solve or reverse," says Malin Grape, head of the Antibiotics and Health Care Unit at the People's Authority.

- What we try to work with is sustainability and to save as much as possible and only use it when necessary.

Globally hot

The fact that bacteria develop resistance is part of their natural defense, but the process has been accelerated by, among other things, overuse. In Sweden, until October 12778, cases were found where people carried one of the 5 most priority resistant bacteria, and where some also suffered from resistant infections.

But if you look internationally, the problem is bigger and the World Health Organization (WHO) has defined it as one of the biggest threats to global public health. At the end of last year, a study was presented that estimated the number of deaths linked to antibiotic resistance to 33,000 per year - only within the EU / EEA. And globally it is about far more.

- It's a global issue, and it doesn't matter how good we are here in Sweden. We must work with other countries in order to have any chance of success at all. The resource-poor countries are the most vulnerable and the ones most affected, says Malin Grape.

New antibiotics are needed

An important part of the work against resistance is to develop new antibiotics, but things are slow at the present time. Partly because it is difficult purely scientific since many self-evident paths have already been used. Partly because the pharmaceutical industry lacks incentives to devote resources to developing new antibiotics because it is a costly process that at the same time provides limited revenues at the other end as it is about drugs that must be used sparingly to counter new resistance.

- This is something that we have to look at, to try to create those incentives and find new business models where the revenue is there directly linked to the consumption of drugs. It is unsustainable when it comes to something to be used sparingly, says Malin Grape, head of the Antibiotics and Health Care Unit at the People's Authority.