The consumption of antibiotics fell in France in 2023 in community medicine after two years of rebound, health authorities announced on Wednesday, calling for continued efforts to reduce still excessive use.
"After two consecutive years marked by an increase in the use of antibiotics, the 2023 figures are part of the moderate but constant downward trend observed before the Covid-19 pandemic, since 2013," according to an annual study by Santé publique France (SPF) based on data on Social Security reimbursements.
This evolution is perceptible in prescriptions (820.6 per 1,000 inhabitants in the year, i.e. -0.2% compared to 2022) and in consumption (-3.3% over one year of daily doses per 1,000 inhabitants).
After a downward trend for several years and a drop in antibiotic consumption at the start of the Covid pandemic, a recovery appeared in 2021 and intensified in 2022.
While the 2023 decline is "an encouraging sign", France is "still far from the target objective of less than 650 prescriptions per 1,000 inhabitants per year", commented Dr Caroline Semaille, Director General of Santé publique France, quoted in a press release, insisting on the need to always "raise awareness better".
France remains one of the worst performers in Europe, ranking fifth among the countries with the highest consumption of antibiotics per capita.
And the disparities in prescriptions and use of these treatments remain "strong depending on age, sex and territory", noted the health agency.
2023 thus marked a decrease among children under five years old – with prescriptions even slightly lower than the 2019 level –, a stabilization among 15-64 year olds and an increase among those over 65.
Consumption also remained generally higher among women than among men, and in certain regions, such as Corsica and PACA.
While general practitioners, the source of the overwhelming majority of antibiotic prescriptions, reduced their prescriptions in 2023 (-1.3%), specialists (+4.6%) and dentists (+1.4%) used these treatments more than in 2022.
Three families of antibiotics, amoxicillin, the combination of amoxicillin and clavulanic acid, macrolides, were the most administered.
Reducing the consumption of antibiotics is an objective of health authorities around the world, mainly to slow the emergence of increasingly resistant bacteria.
From November 18, Sante publique France will rebroadcast the campaign "Antibiotics, good treatment means first using them well", to hammer home that their use, on medical advice, is only useful in cases of bacterial infections, not viral ones.
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