A Eurobarometer report entitled ‘Antimicrobial Resistance’, published last month showed that respondents in southern European Union countries, including Malta, are the most likely to use antibiotics, even in case of the flu virus.
Flu is the most frequently mentioned reason for taking antibiotics, the report notes.
In response to the question “Why did you last take antibiotics?” some 26 per cent of Maltese respondents said that they were likely to have taken antibiotics for flu.
A relative majority of European respondents (20 per cent) mentioned flu, although it is known that antibiotics are ineffective against viruses. Some 14 per cent of European respondents also said that they had taken them for a cold.
This resulted despite the fact that 94 per cent of Maltese people knew that the unnecessary use of antibiotics gradually makes them ineffective.
The majority of respondents in Malta – 55 per cent, had taken antibiotics during the 12 months before the interview. This figure follows that of Italy (57 per cent). Spain trails closely behind Malta with 53 per cent and is followed by Romania at 51 per cent.
These results are higher than the EU average and the publication notes that 40 per cent of Europeans said that they had taken antibiotics in the last 12 months, either in the form of tablets, powder or syrup. Results are however very much in line with the 2002 survey results (which had then been conducted in the 15 member states).
A particularly high proportion of Maltese respondents, 37 per cent, take antibiotics to treat only a symptom, and not a disease. Denmark and Portugal showed an equally high result while the figure was 43 per cent for Sweden. The following countries came closely behind: Slovenia (36 per cent), Hungary (32 per cent) and Slovakia and Great Britain (30 per cent).
Respondents with a better objective knowledge of antibiotics seem to behave more responsibly but only 18 per cent of Maltese respondents knew that flu symptoms are not cured with antibiotics. Conversely, the majority of the countries where respondents are the most likely to know that antibiotics are ineffective against viruses tend (once again) to be in the north of the European Union: Sweden (73 per cent), Finland and France (58 per cent).
In 10 EU countries, more than nine out of 10 people interviewed replied that the unnecessary use of antibiotics makes them ineffective. Malta, together with Cyprus and Slovenia, ranked third under this criterion with a result of 94 cent. The results of Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Greece, Finland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia were similar to ours.
Doctors and TV advertisements are the principal sources of information for almost two thirds of Europeans. Yet Maltese respondents (16 per cent) were among the least likely to mention a doctor as a source of information. Respondents in France (71 per cent compared with a European average of 29 per cent) are by far the most likely to have seen a TV advertisement on the subject, followed by those in Belgium (51 per cent), Luxembourg (40 per cent), Spain (33 per cent), Greece (32 per cent) and Malta (30 per cent).
More than a third of Europeans who had received information on antibiotics in the last 12 months (36 per cent), said that they had changed their views after being advised not to take antibiotics unnecessarily.
Respondents in Cyprus (90 per cent), Malta (88 per cent), Greece (86 per cent), Bulgaria and Romania (84 per cent) are the most likely to say that in future they will always consult a doctor if they think they need antibiotics.
Meanwhile Maltese respondents are the fourth most likely to say that they will no longer take antibiotics without a doctor’s prescription (35 per cent) and 95 per cent of Maltese gave a vote of confidence in doctors as the most trustworthy source of information.
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