New data on AMR in European countries is now available in the third annual report of the Central Asian and Eastern European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance (CAESAR) network. This information is invaluable in providing insight into the scope of the problem and identifying key priorities for action. The CAESAR report is one of WHO/Europe’s activities for World Antibiotic Awareness Week (WAAW) and was co-authored by RIVM’s WHO Collaborating Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Epidemiology and Surveillance.

Third CAESAR  report

The data presented in the CAESAR report give important indications for the presence of highly resistant microorganisms in clinical settings in many European countries. This emphasises the need for effective infection prevention, and control measures.  The resistance data was gathered from nine countries in the WHO European Region – Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Montenegro, the Russian Federation, Serbia, Switzerland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey – and Kosovo (in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 (1999)).
 
CAESAR is a collaboration between the WHO regional office for Europe, the European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, RIVM and the countries participating in CAESAR. The WHO Collaborating Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Epidemiology and Surveillance hosted by RIVM, provided support to the nine countries in collecting, analysing and reporting the national AMR data presented in the report.