National program for the control of bacterial resistance to antibiotics 2017–2021.

This National program for the control of bacterial resistance to antibiotics for the period from the year 2017 until the year 2021 sets out the objectives, area and action plan to be implemented in the Republic of Croatia in order to stop the spread of bacterial resistance to antibiotics in human and veterinary medicine. These proposed activities are part of the World Health Organization's global action plan. The planned activities are in line with the World Health Organization resolution (WHO Global Strategy for Containment of Antimicrobial Resistance, 2001), the Council of the European Union resolution (Council Resolution, 8 June 1999) and the World Health Organization's global action plan on antimicrobial resistance, including the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control plan 2014-2020, and in line with the objectives of the United Nations Sustainable Development Programme until 2030.
The purpose of the National Programme is to improve and protect the health of the Croatian population by ensuring quality health care while preserving the effectiveness of antibiotics. Activities aimed at limiting the development and spread of antibiotic resistance include the following objectives: 1. Monitor the consumption of antimicrobial drugs and the resistance of bacteria to antibiotics in the field of human and veterinary medicine in the Republic of Croatia in order to identify negative or positive trends and enable comparison with other European Union countries; 2. Raise awareness of the harmfulness of overuse of antibiotics among those who prescribe, dispense and consume antibiotics; 3. Prevent and control the spread of infections; 4. Optimize the use of antimicrobial drugs in human and veterinary medicine; 5. Maintain good international cooperation with institutions dealing with the problem of antibiotic resistance, primarily with the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). These goals will be achieved through six main areas of action that are in line with the activities envisaged by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, the World Health Organization (Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance, 2015) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). In the Republic of Croatia, special focus will be on the following activities: 1. raising awareness, understanding and improve education on antimicrobial resistance; 2. improvement of knowledge through monitoring and research programmes; 3. reduction of infection incidences; 4. optimization of the use of existing antibiotics in human and veterinary medicine and agriculture; and 5. development of economically sustainable investment in new drugs, diagnostics, vaccines and other related interventions.