The international consortium brought together European partners – including institutions from Hungary, France, and the Netherlands – alongside collaborators from Canada, Senegal, and the Philippines. Drawing on diverse data sources and comparative analyses, the project set out to assess how effectively the human, animal, and environmental health sectors can coordinate their efforts to promote the more responsible and rational use of antibiotics.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when certain pathogens – most notably bacteria – evolve to withstand the very drugs designed to eliminate them. In such cases, antibiotics that were once highly effective may no longer kill the bacteria, making infections harder to treat and, in some instances, rendering therapies ineffective.
One of the primary drivers of AMR is the inappropriate or excessive use of antibiotics – whether in human medicine, veterinary care, or agriculture – fueling a global health challenge that continues to escalate.
Because antimicrobial resistance extends far beyond human healthcare, it cannot be addressed by any single sector alone. Effective action requires coordinated, cross-sector collaboration. This is the principle that lies at the heart of the One Health approach, which fosters coordinated action across human, animal, plant, and environmental health systems. In fact, the recently concluded international project aimed to assess how effectively this framework is being implemented in participating countries, using diverse data sources and analytical methods to assess its real-world impact.
In parallel with the international collaboration, the Hungarian research team conducted a comprehensive assessment of the national landscape. Their work included an extensive review of Hungarian policy documents, along with a series of in-depth interviews with representatives from the human, animal, and environmental health sectors.
Preliminary findings indicate that in Hungary, the One Health approach – understood as structured cooperation across these sectors – remains in its early stages and has not yet become fully institutionalized. At the same time, the veterinary sector has taken decisive steps to promote more rational antibiotic use. As a matter of fact, targeted measures to combat antimicrobial resistance have yielded tangible results, contributing to a significant decline in antibiotic use in livestock production over recent years. The study also identified several key factors that could inform the development of more effective antibiotic policies in the human and environmental health sectors – laying the groundwork for stronger, more coordinated action against antimicrobial resistance in the years ahead.
The project was implemented between April 1, 2022, and February 28, 2026.
Source: SZTEinfo
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