Global use of antibiotics jumps 40% in 15 years

GLOBAL use of antibiotics has soared by almost 40 per cent in 15 years, raising fresh fears that the drugs will become useless as superbugs become resistant to them.

Countries including Spain and Greece, which hand them out without prescription, are fuelling the rise.

And while Britain is cutting back, they are being used more often in India and China where wealth is increasing.

A study of 76 countries involving Princeton University found the global population took an estimated 35billion doses of antibiotics a day in 2015. The rate per 1,000 people was up 39 per cent since 2000.

Antibiotics treat infections caused by bacteria but are often prescribed wrongly for those caused by viruses, such as flu. Over-using them could mean routine operations becoming deadly if patients are infected by a bug resistant to the drugs.

Dr Herman Goosens of the University of Antwerp, a co-author of the report published in the journal PNAS, said: ‘This milestone paper should create awareness about excessive antibiotic use.’

Dr Eili Klein, of the US-based Centre for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy, said: ‘Finding workable solutions is essential, and we now have key data needed to inform those solutions.

‘Now, more than ever, we need effective interventions, including stewardship, public education, and curbing overuse of last-resort antibiotics.’

Spanish people take the highest number of antibiotics per person of any highincome country. Greece, France, Belgium and Ireland are also using large numbers.

Britain is managing to crack down on over-use, with antibiotic consumption per person falling 3 per cent from 23.8 daily doses per 1,000 people in 2000 to 23.2 doses in 2015.