Effort to Cut Overuse of Antibiotics Shows Promising Results in Finland

A nationwide effort in Finland to use fewer antibiotics has reversed a troubling increase in drug-resistant germs, according to a report in today’s New England Journal of Medicine. The emergence of bacteria that are impervious to standard medicines is a big concern because it narrows doctors’ choices when treating common infections. Overuse of antibiotics--especially prescribing them when they are not clearly needed--is often blamed.

In the late 1980s, health officials in Finland began a campaign urging doctors to cut back on their prescriptions of erythromycin and closely related medicines. Use of these drugs quickly fell by half, and the results were soon apparent. In 1993, the year after the effort started, erythromycin resistance peaked at 19%. Then it fell steadily, until 9% of strep bacteria were resistant in 1996.