Antibiotic sales target hit two years early

Sales of antibiotics for use in livestock have dropped by 27 per cent in two years, exceeding a government target two years ahead of schedule. Figures in the Veterinary Antibiotic Resistance and Sales Surveillance (VARSS) report for 2016, released by Defra last week, show that between 2014 and 2016 overall sales dropped from 62 mg/kg to 45 mg/kg. This is the lowest level since records began. Sales of the highest priority critically important antibiotics (HP-CIAs) also fell, accounting for less than 1 per cent of all antibiotics sold for use in animals in 2016. Defra previously set 50 mg/kg as a target for average use across the livestock sector as a whole, to be achieved by 2018, following recommendations in Lord O’Neill’s Review on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). The UK’s chief vet, Nigel Gibbens, said the figures for 2016 were ‘immensely positive’ and showed that the combined efforts of...
Source: Veterinary Record - Category: Veterinary Research Tags: News section Source Type: research