A study recently published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy has shed light on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on global antimicrobial consumption (AMC)¹. The study analysed a dataset of monthly global purchases of antimicrobials from August 2014 to August 2020, evaluating the impact of the implementation of National Action Plans on AMR worldwide pre-pandemic and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic in antimicrobial consumption.

The analysis of the data on antimicrobial purchases pre-pandemic (2015-2019) suggested that the implementation of AMR National Action Plans in various countries has had a positive effect on curbing antibiotic consumption worldwide except in Egypt, Korea, Brazil, Pakistan, and Australia. This decline was significantly higher for developed countries (-8.4%) than for developing countries (-1.2%); however, developed countries consistently consumed antibiotics at a higher rate than developing countries. Conversely, antiviral consumption significantly increased during this period by 1.2% vs 0.4% in both developed and developing countries, respectively.

During the pandemic, a quick increase in antibiotic consumption was seen in March 2020, but this immediately decreased from April 2020 onwards in all countries, except for Peru. The authors suggest that this temporary increment could be explained by the stockpiling of antibiotics due to the unknown nature of the COVID-19, which decreased with better knowledge of the disease.

Although this study is only based on data on drug purchases (which may not capture the whole picture of AMC), some of these results are encouraging as they may indicate that global efforts to improve antibiotic stewardship may not have been heavily affected by the pandemic. More importantly, they highlight the importance of coordinating efforts to ensure that any future health crisis is managed with plans that contemplate their effect on AMR mitigating measures and that we should also pay attention to the increased use of antivirals worldwide. The global mobilisation to alleviate the effects of the pandemic seen in this period shows what can be achieved when threats to public health are seen as priorities.

¹Tumader Khouja, Kannop Mitsantisuk, Mina Tadrous, Katie J. Suda. Global consumption of antimicrobials: impact of the WHO Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance and 2019 coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 2022; dkac028, https://doi.org/10.1093/jac/dkac028