Santé publique France’s efforts to combat and prevent antibiotic resistance are guided by national objectives outlined in:

• the 2022–2025 national strategy for the prevention of infections and antibiotic resistance (published in February 2022)

• the interministerial roadmap for controlling antibiotic resistance (published in November 2016)

Santé publique France leads epidemiological surveillance and the prevention of antibiotic resistance in France and participates in European surveillance through various initiatives aimed at preserving the effectiveness of antibiotics.
To this end, Santé publique France carries out various actions across the three healthcare sectors (healthcare facilities, medical-social facilities, and community care):

• Epidemiological surveillance of antibiotic resistance through:

  • Coordinating national missions delegated to the Centers for Support in the Prevention of Healthcare-Associated Infections (CPias),

  • Leading a national working group on indicators for monitoring antibiotic resistance,

  • Monitoring of outpatient antibiotic use using data from the National Health Data System (SNDS),

  • Conducting national prevalence surveys of healthcare-associated/nosocomial infections every 5 years,

• Managing reports of healthcare-associated infections, including reports of emerging highly resistant bacteria (BHRe) in collaboration with the CPias and the National Reference Center (CNR) for Antibiotic Resistance;

• Prevention of antibiotic resistance, including communication on the subject accessible to the widest possible audience.

Today, the resources implemented under the auspices of Santé publique France have equipped France with the capacity to rapidly detect the emergence of new forms of resistance, and to monitor and control an outbreak.