International

Antibiotics still used to boost animal growth, says OIE

Safety & Legislation

The World Organisation for Animal Health's (OIE) latest report concludes that antimicrobials are still used for growth promotion in 45 countries.

Posted on Feb 19 ,06:34

Antibiotics still used to boost animal growth, says OIE

In OIE's global analysis from 2015 to 2017 a record of 155 countries participated. The report shows that the reported use of antimicrobials for growth promotion has declined from 60 to 45 countries since the last round of data collection.

However, key antimicrobials, classified by the WHO as ‘Highest Priority Critically Important Antimicrobials’, including colistin, continue to be used routinely in several regions for this purpose. "This practice puts at risk many of the medicines that we take for granted today, for both animals and humans," OIE said in a statement.

OIE added that the development of a robust regulatory framework is a key component to protect and ensure responsible and prudent use of antimicrobial agents in animal health and production.

"It is also a powerful instrument to phasing out their use as growth promoters, while recognising that voluntary approaches can be effective in certain countries. The report shows positive progress, while 72 countries do not have a regulatory framework on the use of growth promotors, it is a decrease from the first database report in which 110 countries lacked such a framework. This decline suggests critical progress in the implementation of regulations on the use of antimicrobial agents."

 NEWSLETTER - Stay informed with the latest news!

Comments





Similar articles

EU

EU Parliament wants to ban names like "Veggie Sausage"

The European Parliament wants to ban terms like sausage, steak, and schnitzel for vegan and veget...


Read more Read more

September records the best month for Brazilian beef exports

The result represents the best monthly performance in the historical series that began in 1997, c...


Read more Read more
AUSTRALIA

Andrew MacPherson to be appointed CEO of Teys beef processing business

Andrew will assume the leadership role following completion of the change of ownership to Ca...


Read more Read more
Websolutions by Angular Software and SpiderClass