The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has welcomed the publication of two new reports showing impressive overall reductions in the sale and use of veterinary antibiotics on farms and the work that has gone into achieving this.
The UK is now one of the lowest users of this class of drugs in Europe.
The findings were revealed in the latest UK Veterinary Antibiotic Resistance and Sales Surveillance (UK-VARSS) and RUMA Targets Task Force 2 reports.
These released on 8 November 2022 by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) and the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance (RUMA).
The VARSS report shows that sales of antibiotics for use in livestock have reduced by 55 percent since 2014 to their lowest ever recorded level.
Crucially, sales of high-priority critically important antibiotics, which have been designated by the World Health Organisation as antibiotics crucial for treating disease in humans, have declined for a seventh year in a row, with a 83 percent reduction since 2014.
The RUMA report summarises progress against antibiotic use targets identified by the UK livestock industry’s Targets Task Force 2, covering ten sectors across aquaculture, pigs, poultry and ruminants.
The two reports come ahead of World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (18 to 24 November) and European Antibiotic Awareness Day (18 November).
BVA’s policy position on the responsible use of antimicrobials in food producing animals is available to view here.
