Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) both in human and veterinary medicine has reached alarming levels in
most parts of the world and has now been recognized as a significant emerging threat to global public
health and food security. In June 2015, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nati...ons
(FAO) passed a resolution on AMR at its governing
Conference. This followed the adoption of counterpart
resolutions on AMR by The World Organisation
for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization
(WHO) in May 20152, and marked the
beginning of a joint effort by the three organizations
to combat AMR globally.
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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global public health concern and a food safety issue. When pathogens become resistant to antimicrobial agents they can pose a greater human health risk as a result of potential treatment failure, loss of treatment options and increased likelihood and severi...ty of disease.
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In recognition of the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), its increasing threat to human, animal and plant health, and the need for a One Health approach to address this issue, the 39th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) agreed it was important for the food safety comm...unity to play its part and re-established the ad hoc Codex Intergovernmental Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance (TFAMR) ). The objectives of the Task Force were
to revise the current Codex Code of Practice to Minimise and Contain Antimicrobial Resistance and to develop new guidance on surveillance programmes relevant to foodborne AMR.
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This publication describes an arduous campaign to tackle the use of antimicrobials - specifically antibiotics - in the Danish swine-producing sector thanks to the collaboration between the regulatory sector within the Ministry of Environment and Food, private veterinary practitioners and swine produ...cers. The document is a retrospective tribute to all those who had the foresight to make significant changes to ensure consumer protection - improving hygiene at primary sites, developing options for intervention, identifying sites for intervention, setting targets, restructuring the relationship between the veterinary services and farmers, and implementing changes in behaviour for greatest impact
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Antibiotic resistant bacteria are spreading at an alarming rate and some bacterial infections may once again be untreatable. Antibiotic resistance (ABR), conservatively calculated, causes more than 500 000 deaths every year. This number is projected to rise dramatically if radical actions are not ta...ken. Lack of effective antibiotics, diagnostics and vaccines threatens the health of millions and hampers fulfilment of several of the Sustainable Development Goals. Access to effective antibiotics should be part of every adult and child’s right to health.
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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a complex issue of global concern. AMR is not simply a problem of medical science being beaten by nature; human action and perverse incentives play a major role in its development. The misuse of antibiotics in the medical, veterinary and agricultural sectors, which ...include the inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics, their overuse in the livestock sector, and insufficient hygiene practices in hospital, all contribute to the rise of AMR.
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Educational materials (slide presentations) from FAO covering important biosecurity aspects in poultry farms
Food safety and antimicrobial resistance research: A One Health perspective. Presented at the Emerging Pathogens Institute Seminar Series, Gainesville, Florida, 26 July 2019
Training manual that outlines the training of smallholder farmers to improve biosecurity and practices in their farms to prevent infectious diseases and thus the need for use of veterinary drugs. Describes training sessions and includes exercises and handouts.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a complex issue of global concern. AMR is not simply a problem of medical science being beaten by nature; human action and perverse incentives play a major role in its development. The misuse of antibiotics in the medical, veterinary and agricultural sectors, which ...include the inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics, their overuse in the livestock sector, and insufficient hygiene practices in hospital, all contribute to the rise of AMR
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Despite the considerable improvement in global health, millions of people still lack access to quality health services, including access to effective antimicrobial medicines, or are impoverished as a result of health spending. At the same time, antimicrobial resistance – a consequence of overuse a...nd misuse of antimicrobials – is increasingly a barrier to accessing effective care. The declining effectiveness of antibiotics is driven by multiple factors, many of which can be addressed through well functioning primary health care. However, primary health care has not always had much attention in national health sector responses to
antimicrobial resistance, which often focus on tertiary care, laboratory detection and surveillance. The three pillars of primary health care (community engagement, front-line health services including primary care and essential public health, and multisectoral action on wider health determinants) are central not just to Universal Health Coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals, but also to an effective response to antimicrobial resistance.
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Scientists have known for more than half a century that patients could develop resistance to the drugs used to treat them. Alexander Fleming, who is credited with creating the first antibiotic, penicillin, in 1928, cautioned of the impending crisis while accepting his Nobel prize in 1945: “There ...is the danger that the ignorant man may easily underdose himself and by exposing his microbes to non-lethal quantities of the drug make them resistant.” Since then antibiotics have proved one of the most effective interventions in human medicine. Sadly, the overuse and misuse of this precious resource have brought us to a global crisis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). To address this crisis nearly seven decades after Fleming’s lecture the first UN general assembly meeting on drug resistance bacteria was convened in September 2017.
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These Guidelines on prudent use of antimicrobials in human health are based on a technical report prepared by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) with input from EU Member States experts and stakeholders, which should be referred to for details of the methodology used in cr...eating the guidelines as well as for additional references
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Le présent plan prend la suite de deux plans nationaux pour préserver l’efficacité des antibiotiques (2001-2005 et 2007-2010), qui visaient à maîtriser et rationaliser la prescription des antibiotiques. Ce troisième plan a pour titre « plan national 2011-2016 d’alerte sur les antibiotique...s ». Derrière ce titre se profile une menace de santé publique majeure : un nombre croissant de situations d’impasse thérapeutique contre des infections bactériennes, du fait du développement des résistances aux antibiotiques. Cette menace appelle une mobilisation déterminée et durable de l’ensemble des acteurs impliqués dans le cycle de vie des antibiotiques, afin de concilier des objectifs individuels (qualité de la prise en charge des patients) et collectifs (préservation d’une ressource rare, précieuse et difficile à renouveler).
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Antimicrobial resistance represents a big threat to public health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that every year two million Americans are infected with a (multi-)drug resistant bacterium, resulting in 23,000 deaths. The WHO has repeatedly drawn attention to this majo...r health issue. In the worst-case scenario, we will shortly run out of effective antibiotics. Surgery and cancer therapy will then become very dangerous due to the risk of infection associated with such treatments. (Organ) transplantation will become close to impossible as the immunosuppression necessary for transplant patients makes them highly vulnerable to infections. Some infections we can easily treat today could turn deadly. It is therefore conceivable that infectious diseases once again become the leading cause of death as in early 20th century.
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Antimicrobial agents play an indispensable role in animal health and welfare management. At the same time, the need for prudent use is obvious to ensure good food safety outcomes and to manage the potential risk of antimicrobial resistance. The emergence of multi-resistant bacteria is posing challen...ges to health professionals and communities around the world for both human and animal health. These bacteria are not destroyed by the common antimicrobial agents and so pose a risk to people, particularly children, the elderly and those with poorly functioning immune systems, as well as to animals.
Throughout the years, the dairy sector has been very much aware of the need for responsible use and has, in many countries, implemented adequate measures throughout the dairy supply chain.
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This book provides significantly expanded content and experience in relation to a broader stewardship context- for example, stewardship in specific populations, different countries as well as the role of different professions in stewardship to political and media engagement. We hope this book has so...mething to offer everyone practicing in this area. Therefore, The British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy [BSAC] in collaboration with ESGAP are very pleased to present this e-book on Global Antimicrobial Stewardship that is relevant to health care professions working in preventing and managing infection across the healthcare communities and health care facilities. It aims to support health care professionals, or teams, or policy makers interested in learning about bringing the principles of stewardship to the bed side
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This document provides additional guidance for the responsible and prudent use of antimicrobials in food-producing animals, and should be read in conjunction with the Recommended International Code of Practice for Control of the Use of Veterinary Drugs CAC/RCP 38-1993. Its obj...ectives are to minimize the potential adverse impact on public health resulting from the use of antimicrobial agents in food-producing animals, in particular the development of antimicrobial resistance. It is also important to provide for the safe and effective use of veterinary antimicrobial drugs in veterinary medicine by maintaining their efficacy. This document defines the respective responsibilities of authorities and groups involved in the authorization, production, control, distribution and use of veterinary antimicrobials such as the national regulatory authorities, the veterinary pharmaceutical industry, veterinarians, distributors and producers of food-producing animals.
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Last updated Friday 20 March