Trends in antibiotic utilization in eight Latin American countries, 1997-2007 Tendencias en el consumo de antibióticos en ocho países latinoamericanos entre 1997 y 2007

• Main Authors: Veronika J. Wirtz, Anahí Dreser, Ralph Gonzales
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Spanish; Portuguese
• Published: Pan American Health Organization 2010
• Subjects: Farmacoepidemiología; agentes antibacterianos; farmacorresistencia microbiana; política nacional de medicamentos; América Latina; Pharmacoepidemiology; anti-bacterial agents; drug resistance; national drug policy; Latin America; Medicine; R; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Arctic; Argentina; Uruguay
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/1b1fcbdf79054b2189677b11f65619b5

OBJECTIVE: To describe the trends in antibiotic utilization in eight Latin American countries between 1997-2007 METHODS: We analyzed retail sales data of oral and injectable antibiotics (World Health Organization (WHO) Anatomic Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) code J01) between 1997 and 2007 for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Antibiotics were aggregated and utilization was calculated for all antibiotics (J01); for macrolides, lincosamindes, and streptogramins (J01 F); and for quinolones (J01 M). The kilogram sales of each antibiotic were converted into defined daily dose per 1 000 inhabitants per day (DID) according to the WHO ATC classification system. We calculated the absolute change in DID and relative change expressed in percent of DID variation, using 1997 as a reference RESULTS: Total antibiotic utilization has increased in Peru, Venezuela, Uruguay, and Brazil, with the largest relative increases observed in Peru (5.58 DID, +70.6%) and Venezuela (4.81 DID, +43.0%). For Mexico (-2.43 DID; -15.5%) and Colombia (-4.10; -33.7%), utilization decreased. Argentina and Chile showed major reductions in antibiotic utilization during the middle of this period. In all countries, quinolone use increased, particularly sharply in Venezuela (1.86 DID, +282%). The increase in macrolide, lincosaminde, and streptogramin use was greatest in Peru (0.76 DID, +82.1%), followed by Brazil, Argentina, and Chile CONCLUSIONS: Analyzing antibiotic utilization in Latin America presents a series of challenges. Creating policy-relevant evidence based on antimicrobial consumption patterns is needed in order to foster policies aimed at improving appropriate use of antibiotics in the region. OBJETIVO: Describir las tendencias en el consumo de antibióticos en ocho países latinoamericanos entre 1997 y el 2007. MÉTODOS: Se analizaron los datos de las ventas al por menor de antibióticos orales e inyectables (Código J01 de la clasificación anatómica, terapéutica y química [ATC] de la Organización Mundial de ...