Antimicrobial - From awareness to action

ANTIMICROBIAL agents are medicines used to treat infections, particularly those of bacterial origin. These medicines are essential to protect human and animal health, as well as animal welfare. Excessive or inappropriate use can lead to the emergence of resistant bacteria which do not respond to antibiotic treatment, as seen in recent decades.

This phenomenon, called antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which poses a threat to disease control throughout the world, is a primary concern for human and animal health.

It is by ensuring the responsible and prudent use of these invaluable medicines in animals, in accordance with the intergovernmental standards of the OIE that we will be able to safeguard their efficacy.

To achieve this, co-ordinated action between the human and animal health and environmental sectors is crucial. Veterinarians are part of the solution; but they must be well trained and well supervised by the statutory veterinary bodies created by law.

Responsible and prudent use of antimicrobials

While the massive use of antimicrobials has taken place in human and animal health over recent decades, the world is confronting an accelerated increase in the emergence of antimicrobial resistance.

Yet the discovery of new treatments is not enough to maintain the fight against bacteria, organisms responsible for often serious illnesses in people and animals.

Furthermore, globalisation of the trade in food products, together with traditional and medical tourism, is allowing existing or future resistant bacteria to colonise the entire planet with ease, whatever local preventive measures are applied.

Risks taken by one country are thus liable to endanger the effectiveness and availability of antibiotics for the whole planet.

Protecting the efficacy of antimicrobial agents

Antimicrobial resistance poses a worldwide health threat: its consequences, direct and indirect, can damage both human and animal health. For those in the animal health sector, the use of veterinary medicinal products, including antimicrobial agents, is essential for the following reasons:

To protect animal health and welfare, in the knowledge that

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animal diseases can cause production losses of up to 20 per cent;

To contribute to food safety, as world population growth leads to an increase in the demand for high-quality animal protein, for example, that found in eggs, meat and milk;

To protect public health, because more than 60 per of infectious animal diseases are transmissible to humans.

For all these reasons, antimicrobial agents constitute a global public good, and protecting their efficacy remains crucial.

The role of the OIE in the fight against AMR

The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) is the intergovernmental organisation responsible for improving animal health worldwide. The OIE has been working on the AMR issue for a long time.

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In undertaking its role as a standard-setting organisation for animal health, including zoonoses, the OIE has developed a wide range of international standards on antimicrobial agents, in particular on responsible and prudent use.

These standards are regularly reviewed and updated through the transparent and inclusive process of expert advice and member consultation before presentation for adoption to the World Assembly of Delegates (182 Member Countries) each year.

The OIE also works with its member countries in a comprehensive and continuous capacity building process for their veterinary services.

OIE strategy

In 2016, the OIE’s 84th General Assembly unanimously adopted Resolution no. 36, which mandates that OIE compile AMR activities into a strategy. On November 2016 the OIE Strategy on Antimicrobial Resistance and the Prudent Use of Antimicrobials was published.

Aligned with the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Action Plan, the strategy recognises the importance of a “One Health” approach involving human and animal health, agricultural and environmental needs.

It outlines the goals and tactics the OIE has in place to support member countries in their fight against AMR, and to encourage the national ownership and implementation of international Standards.

Global database on the use of antimicrobial agents in animals

As part of its AMR Strategy, the OIE is developing a database to establish a global surveillance on antimicrobial use in animals. The database is designed to:

Monitor the type and use of antimicrobial products;

■ Measure trends over time;

■ Trace circulation and use patterns globally;

Evaluate the quality and authenticity of antimicrobial products in use.

For further information, please contact: BAFiji on 3312512 or email info@baf.com.fj

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