study<\/a> from 2013, a patient in Italy takes 50 percent more antibiotics than the average European. This is the second highest in all of Europe. The use of antibiotics in farming is comparable. For every kilogram of livestock raised, Italy uses twice as many antibiotics as the average of the EU \u2013 only Cyprus uses more. \u00a0<\/p>\nWhy is consumption in Italy so high? One reason is that the ability of the country to mount an effective response to fight resistant infections seems hampered by a fragmented National Health System. The National Health System is split between the 21 regions of Italy, making it difficult to apply a common national policy on how to fight antibiotic resistance.<\/p>\n\n
Another hindrance is the lack of available data on the issue. Even scientists cannot access the data freely. There are approximately 50 hospitals that collect data on resistant infections and report the numbers to the National Institute of Health and the Ministry of Health. Theoretically, the data is available to journalists and the public, but that isn\u2019t the case in practice. Institutions seldom provide statistics.<\/p>\n
Italian citizens also have different standards regarding freedom of information, in contrast to the US, Great Britain or Germany. Open data activists, who systematically ask the state for information, report that only one third of the requests submitted are being answered within the 30-day period required by law. The administrative silence is widely practiced at all levels of government as it’s not sanctioned under the current laws.<\/p>\n
In September 2015,\u00a0Correctiv.org\u00a0sent a request for information to the Ministry of Health. We asked how the agency registers resistant germs, how many infections there were in the last years and how many deaths\u00a0are associated with these infections.<\/p>\n