Denmark’s Crown Princess yesterday called on Europe’s top health officials to redouble efforts to stop the spread of antibiotic-resistant organisms.
Princess Mary warned that antimicrobial resistance risked “moving us back to the era before the discovery of penicillin, when people died of common colds”.
The Princess made her plea during a keynote speech at the opening session of the World Health Organisation’s Regional Committee for Europe. She is the WHO Committee’s patron.
Malta is hosting the four-day committee meeting, which brings together delegates from each of the 53 countries within the WHO’s European region to discuss health policy.
Misuse and overprescription of antibiotics have led to a rapid increase in the number of infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria, with superbug MRSA being just one example.
The WHO reckons at least 150,000 people die every year due to tuberculosis strains which are resistant to multiple drugs.
TB inoculation programmes are widespread across Western Europe, and with the continent this year celebrating its 10th year of being polio-free, it would appear Europe is in better health than most other regions. But Princess Mary warned delegates not to rest on their laurels.
“Complacency leads to outbreaks, and prevention is far better than cure. We need to ensure demand for vaccines remains high, because it is every child’s right to be immunised.”
WHO regional director for Europe, Zsuzsanna Jakab used her introductory speech to run through the committee’s achievements and challenges over the past year.
While she lauded the work done by many members in developing public health action plans in areas such as alcohol abuse and heart-related deaths, she also warned that healthcare inequalities, “both within and between countries”, remained.
“Inequalities are growing, and this is the most worrisome trend for European health policymakers: these differences mean a gap in life expectancy of around 12 years in the region,” Mrs Jakab said.
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi also took to the podium, welcoming delegates and telling them the global financial crisis was an opportunity to “evaluate past practices, prioritise needs and introduce new systems of governance in the health sector”.
Dr Gonzi reaffirmed the government’s commitment to providing free universal healthcare, adding that the Government had made a “conscious choice” to prioritise healthcare and shield the sector from expenditure cuts.
The Prime Minister had a special mention for one audience member, former Health Minister Alexander Cachia Zammit, who in 1970 had the honour of presiding over a similar WHO regional committee meeting held in Malta.