Study Rundown: Antibiotic resistance is a real threat to public health. Prior to the current study, knowledge on antibiotic use from non-EU European countries was scarce, reports 2minute medicine.com. In the current study, Versporten et al. collected such data in order to help establish permanent surveillance systems for continued monitoring. The study found that antibiotic use varied greatly among the participating countries, with the lowest use in Armenia and the highest use in Turkey. Of note, Turkey used nearly three times as much antibiotics per capita as Armenia. The classes of antibiotics used also differed greatly among the states. These discrepancies underline the need for further monitoring and reform of antibiotic use in the surveyed regions. The study used standardized methods developed by the WHO to survey antibiotic use. 

The top five antibiotic users were: Turkey, Montenegro, Tajikistan, Kosovo and Serbia.

Penicillins were the most commonly used in all countries, with the highest proportional use of penicillins reported in Georgia and Azerbaijan. However, narrow spectrum penicillin use was low throughout the region, with the highest use reported in Montenegro. Total cephalosporin use was highest in Turkey  and lowest in Azerbaijan.