National outpatient antibiotic prescriptions in Cyprus, 2020-2022

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Infectious Diseases
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global health threat.
• Cyprus's national data lacks distinction between hospital and community antibiotic use.
• Current reporting provides only generalized insights into national antimicrobial trends.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze antibiotic prescribing patterns in Cyprus's national outpatient services.
• To evaluate community antibiotic use in Cyprus between 2020 and 2022.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of national community antibiotic prescriptions in Cyprus (2020-2022).
• Data extracted from the National Insurance Organization (HIO) database.
• Antibiotics classified using WHO Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) and AWaRe (Access, Watch, Reserve) systems.

Main Results:

• Over 1.45 million systemic antibacterial prescriptions were issued to outpatients.
• Prescription rates per 1,000 beneficiaries increased from 535.7 in 2020 to 653 in 2022.
• Prescription of WHO "Access" antibiotics decreased by 3.1% to 42.3% in 2022, below WHO (60%) and EU (70%) goals.

Conclusions:

• Community antibiotic prescriptions in Cyprus rose between 2020 and 2022.
• A declining trend in the proportion of "Access" antibiotics prescribed was observed.
• The decreasing use of "Access" antibiotics requires attention to combat antimicrobial resistance effectively.