Events

BSR Pharma webinar
Pharmaceuticals and antimicrobial resistance in the environment

Date: 1^st of December 2021

Time: 8:45–12:00 (CET), 9:45–13:00 (EET)

Platform: MS Teams

Pharmaceutical residues have been identified to pose an environmental risk in the Baltic Sea Region. They are known to be continuously discharged into water environments through wastewater treatment plants as well as through leakage from manure coupled to animal farms. Pharmaceutical discharges, most notably those of antibiotics, may promote the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the environment. AMR can lead to increase of human casualties related to untreatable infections. I t has been projected that AMR will cause 10 million human casualties annually by 2050, accompanied by significant economic impacts.

Since autumn 2017, the Baltic Sea Pharma platform (BSR Pharma) has brought together projects and stakeholders from the Baltic Sea region, to help promote knowledge-sharing, streamline activities and support regional policy development. Thereby, the platform aims at contributing to finding solutions for the prevention and remediation of pollution caused by pharmaceutical residues in the Baltic Sea environment.

In May 2021, BSR Pharma launched a questionnaire, giving platform members the opportunity to influence the future of the platform. Environmental legislation, occurrence, and risks related to pharmaceuticals in the environment (PiE), as well as antimicrobial resistance (AMR) were among the top issues the respondents wished future activities to touch upon.

To meet the interest of BSR Pharma stakeholders, Finnish Environment Institute SYKE as the leader of BSR Pharma, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency as coordinator of EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region Policy area ‘Hazards’, and Swedish Knowledge Centre on Pharmaceuticals in the Environment at the Swedish Medical Products Agency arrange a webinar on Pharmaceuticals and antimicrobial resistance in the environment.

This webinar aims to: