June 2012

Every year, between 180 and 260 people in Sweden die as a result of antibiotic resistance. Responsibility for increasing antibiotic resistance is often placed on doctors and consumers. It is argued that customer-oriented physicians and self-serving patients are driving the problem through increased prescribing. On closer examination, however, it turns out that the causes of antibiotic resistance are more complex and of a global nature, such as the capacity to develop new antibiotics and the challenge of growing trade, especially with less developed countries.