More and more people are developing antibiotic resistance. New active ingredients are urgently needed – but currently the drug shortage has higher priority.
the essentials in brief
- The number of people dying from antibiotic resistance has increased significantly.
- The time for the development of new antibiotics is pressing.
- The President of the “Round Table on Antibiotics” speaks of a “silent pandemic”.
Antibiotics are often prescribed to people who are treated in the hospital. From cystitis to blood poisoning, the drug is an effective remedy – at least most of the time. Because more and more people are developing resistance to the active ingredients.
The Swiss Center for Antimicrobial Resistance assumes that around 300 people die from infections each year due to antibiotic resistance. For comparison: in 2010 there were only half as many.
Time is of the essence, as “Switzerland at the weekend” writes. Because no new antibiotics have come onto the market worldwide for around 20 years. In fact, they are urgently needed.
But currently the priorities are set differently. Swiss doctors and hospitals don’t even know how much longer they will be able to buy enough conventional antibiotics.
Resistances are promoted by bottleneck
The Federal Office for National Economic Supply (BWL) recently warned that there was a serious shortage of antibiotics in tablet form. That is why the compulsory stocks have to help out as of March 1st.
But why now? Monika Schäublin from the office for remedies at the BWL attributes this to the newspaper to the corona pandemic. Because fewer people fell ill during the lockdown.
“Demand skyrocketed once more at the end of 2022. And that in a market that was already at its limit before the pandemic,” says Schäublin.
The bottleneck means that the development of multi-resistant germs is favored. Doctors are forced to prescribe so-called broadband alternatives for their patients instead of suitable active ingredients.
«Race once morest bacteria»
Rudolf Blankart, President of the Round Table on Antibiotics, has been warning of this problem for some time. In an appeal to the Federal Council, he emphasized the urgent need to ensure a secure supply of effective antibiotics. That was six years ago – but there are still no concrete measures.
However, it is actually important not to lose any time in the development of new antibiotics. Because it is a “silent pandemic” and “a race once morest pathogenic bacteria that we are in danger of losing”. And the development and production of new antibiotics might take up to ten years, Blankart said to “Switzerland at the weekend”.
Blankart sees the setting of innovative financial incentives for pharmaceutical companies as a solution. “Politicians are called upon to find a solution here,” Blankart states.
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The Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) explains that preliminary investigations into incentive systems have been made. However, reference is also made to the importance of internationally coordinated approaches. Because antibiotics are being developed for the global market and this is “very expensive”. “Switzerland, as a small country, can at best make a small contribution with a national incentive,” explains BAG spokeswoman Katrin Holenstein.
