European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption (ESAC): outpatient macrolide, lincosamide and streptogramin (MLS) use in

Data on outpatient antibiotic use were collected from 34 countries using the ATC/DDD methodology. Methods: For theperiod1997–2003, dataonoutpatient useof systemicantibiotics aggregatedat the levelof theactivesubstancewerecollectedandexpressed inDDD(WHO,version2004)per1000 inhabitantsperday (DID).Outpatient antibiotic (ATCJ01)use in 25Europeancountries, able todeliver validdata,wasanalysed. Results: Total outpatient antibiotic use in 2003 varied by a factor of 3 between the country with the highest (31.4DID inGreece) and thecountrywith the lowest (9.8DID in theNetherlands) use.General usepatterns in individual countries as well as trends during the period 1997–2003 are described in this paper, while major antibiotic classes (penicillins, cephalosporins, macrolides/lincosamides/streptogramins and quinolones) will be analysed in detail in separate papers. Conclusion: TheESACproject established for the first timeacrediblealternative to industry sources for the collection of internationally comparable data on antibiotic use in Europe, based on cooperation between regulatory authorities, scientific societies, health insurers and professional organizations. These dat