The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Rethink call on antimicrobial resistance
Farmers will need to overhaul their livestock systems to achieve any significant reduction in antibiotic use, European health chiefs said.
In a bid to safeguard future animal and public health, experts from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) called on farmers to do everything in their power to limit antimicrobial resistance.
They said limiting use of antibiotics in food-producing livestock to the bare minimum necessary to treat infectious diseases is crucial, but will only go part of the way to solving the problem.
“It is clear that strategies that are already available can be implemented immediately and will have a positive impact on levels of antimicrobial resistance,” said Dr Bernhard Url, EFSA’s executive director.
“At the same time, there is a need for innovative solutions. We need to find alternative ways to prevent and treat bacterial infections in animals.”
Conceding there will be no ‘one-size-fits-all solution’ across Europe, the EFSA and EMA want to see the introduction of strategies that will follow an integrated, multifaceted approach.
Reducing the use of antimicrobials and finding or developing new alternative antibiotic treatments is no longer enough, experts say.
Professor Guido Rasi, EMA executive director, said: “There are only a few new antibiotics in the development pipeline, hence those already available need to be used responsibly, both in humans and animals.
“Collecting data on AMR (antimicrobial resistance) and antibiotic consumption is key to putting into place effective measures to control AMR and retain the effectiveness of antimicrobials for the benefit of public and animal health.”
As a result, the experts said there is a need to “rethink the livestock system” by implementing farming practices that either prevent the introduction and spread of the disease into farms, or by considering alternative farming systems that are viable with reduced use of antimicrobials.