Antibiotic overconsumption and resistance in Turkey

Abstract

The latest report of the OECD Health Policy Studies stated that in2015 the highest rates of antimicrobial resistance (around 35% inTurkey, Korea and Greece) were seven times higher than the lowestrates among its member countries. As the OECD country with thehighest rate of resistance (38.8%), despite a 15-year hospital anti-biotic restriction programme, Turkey is in urgent need of revisingits policies and drawing an effective action plan to reverse thecurrent trend. In this commentary we review previous measurestaken to tackle antimicrobial overuse and resistance in Turkey and discuss their effectiveness.