Consumers play vital role in fight against superbugs
PUTRAJAYA: Consumers can play a role in fighting superbugs that are killing millions globally where the best medication could no longer work.
In the United States, consumer power is taking the lead in addressing the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), said renowned public health scientist Dr Michael Osterholm.
“We are seeing real changes. In the US, for example, it was the consumers who want antibioticsfree poultry and some companies figured out how they can do it and they improve on the health and safety of the animals,” he said when interviewed.
People buying antibioticfree chicken as well as other red meat helped in bringing about changes, said Dr Osterholm, who was here yesterday for the Antimicrobial Stewardship Seminar and Workshop.
Globally, there are more antibiotics used in animal husbandry than in humans, said the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy director at the University of Minnesota.
“While both are a concern, the focus was on the misuse of antibiotics in humans which can develop resistance but in recent years, more attention has been on animal husbandry,” said Dr Osterholm, an expert in global pandemic preparedness and biosecurity.
He was asked whether there was a necessity to put antibiotics in animal feed as farmers often argue that the whole lot of poultry or livestock could be affected if one animal was infected, causing severe losses to them.
He said that likewise, in the US, it was often stated that they could not raise animals without using antibiotics but there were companies that were already doing it.
“What they have done is improve the health of the animals – the living conditions, the security of the water supply, the type of feed they provide them that is free of pathogens or diseasecausing bug.
Asked what antibioticfree chicken or produce should mean since some claimed they were free of antibiotic residue at the point of slaughtering, Dr Osterholm said it should not be used at all from the beginning of care and not just at the time of purchase.
“You want it to be antibioticfree throughout its lifetime,” he said.