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Press Release AMR & HAIS

Council Conclusions on combatting Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) highlight the continued need to keep the topic high on the political agenda

Brussels, 14 June 2019 – Today, the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council adopted its Council Conclusions on combatting Antimicrobial Resistance. MedTech Europe welcomes the leadership that the Council has taken on this global health challenge and in particular the attention directed to the importance of infection prevention and control as well as to antimicrobial stewardship programmes.

Posted on 14.06.2019

Infection prevention in hospital and healthcare settings is complex and ranges from simple hand disinfection to establishing comprehensive Infection Prevention Programmes. The use of medical technologies can help in the successful delivery of such programmes:

  • Dedicated medical devices can prevent the development of healthcare-associated infections[1] and therefore decrease the risk of AMR to develop in the first place.
  • High-quality microbiology laboratory support is a critical factor for the implementation of an effective infection prevention and control plan[2] as well as for the establishment of antimicrobial stewardship programs. Information collected from diagnostic tests helps to monitor and track resistance to enable patient compliance as well as to manage outbreaks.

The concept of “Antimicrobial stewardship” is another essential component to combatting AMR. Antimicrobial stewardship seeks to achieve optimal clinical outcomes related to antimicrobial use, minimize toxicity and other adverse events and limit the selection for antimicrobial resistant strains. Economic evidence strongly indicates cost-effectiveness of antimicrobial stewardship programmes, which can lead to a positive return on investment, even shortly after implementation[3].

MedTech Europe calls upon the upcoming Finnish Presidency, the European Commission, as well as the newly elected European Parliament to ensure that the topic of AMR remains high on the political agenda and continues to be addressed in association with infection prevention and control.

For more information, please visit our AMR website.

 

 

[1] WHO Global Guidelines on the Prevention of Surgical Site Infection (2016)

[2] WHO Guidelines on core components of infection prevention and control programmes at the national and acute health care facility level (2016)

[3] Celsus Academie: Cost-Effectiveness of Policies to Limit Antimicrobial Resistance in Dutch Healthcare Organisations (2016)

About MedTech Europe

MedTech Europe is the European trade association for the medical technology industry including diagnostics, medical devices and digital health. Our members are national, European and multinational companies as well as a network of national medical technology associations who research, develop, manufacture, distribute and supply health-related technologies, services and solutions.

For all media enquiries, please contact MedTech Europe Senior Manager Communications, Jerick Parrone