Now it´s time - before it´s too late - for the Nordic governments to take ommon measure on the antibiotic issue. Nordic consumer organisations  demand an initiative against the use of antibiotics both within the Nordic countries and EU to fight against an increased spreading of resistance to antibiotics. 

The exaggerated use of antibiotics as medicine for humans, breeding of animals and in agriculture and growing fruits and vegetables make a health risk for all humans. Germs and genes from germs can be freely transfered between different races, from human to human, from animal to food or from food to human. The different parts of the resistance problem has so far been handled one by one, but now it´s time to see the whole. Future measures have to take in consideration that the resistance to antibiotics has several different origins within a common ecological system. 

Health authorities, scientists, doctors and veterinarians all over the world are worried that the fast spreading of the resistance to antibiotics seriously will decrease the possibilities of treating common infectious diseases. 

The nordic consumer organisations are urging the nordic governments to accomplish national plans of action that amongst other things shall contain: 

¤  guidelines for a restrictive use of antibiotics in  human- and animal medical care and an end for the use of antibiotics in breeding and agriculture. 

¤  supervising of the use of antibiotics - statistics on how much, what type and for what purpose. 

¤  control of and research about the evolution of resistance.  

¤  Controls of infections at hospital and at home care.

Although that it´s important that suggested controls, guidelines and supervising systems get established in the Nordic countries, a central EU organ should also be established for an integrated politic that includes the total use of antibiotics with the goal to put the antibiotic matter on the top of the agenda within EU. The new authority should have the responsibility to coordinate the measures from the different member states. 

Forbrugerrådet  Danmark  phone +45 33 13 63 11 
Forbrukerrådet  Norge   phone +47 67 59 96 00 
Konsumenter i Samverkan Sverige  phone + 46 495 41 315 
Konsumentförbundet  Finland  phone + 358 9 454 22 10 
Neytendasamtökin  Island  phone + 354 562 5002 
Sveriges Konsumentråd  Sverige  phone +46 8 406 08 60