Antibiotic Research UK Welcomes Publication

in his latest report issued in December 2015 Lord O’Neill highlights that the use of antibiotics in agriculture around the world represents a threat to public health, promoting the development and spread of so-called drug-resistant infections (‘superbugs’).

Given the world uses far more antibiotics in animals than it does in humans, agricultural use must be reduced globally, according to the new report published today (8th December 2015) by the independent Review on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), chaired by Jim O’Neill. The report recommends stricter rules on the type of drugs used in agriculture depending on their importance to humans.

Antibiotic Research UK the world’s first charity set up to tackle superbugs welcomes the report’s publication, since it reinforces what the Charity has been saying about tackling the problem of antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic use needs to be controlled in every part of the supply and use chain if we are to prevent human antibiotic resistance increasing further and threatening modern medicine.  The O’Neill report also sets out the results of a literature review using a sample of 280 published, peer-reviewed research articles that address the issue of antibiotic use in agriculture. Of the 139 academic studies covered, only seven (five percent) argued that there was no link between antibiotic consumption in animals and resistance in humans, while 100 (72 percent) concluded that there was evidence to support limiting the use of antibiotics in agriculture.

This latest report adds to Antibiotic Research UK’s and EXASOL’s recent findings that 1) antibiotic prescribing by GP’s is highest in deprived areas and 2) that there is a big seasonal difference in prescribing between August and December which is unwarranted as antibiotics should not be given to treat coughs, colds and sore throats unless absolutely medically necessary.

Professor Colin Garner, chief executive of Antibiotic Research UK Says: “It is worrying that at all levels, indiscriminate use of antibiotics is driving antibiotic resistance so that they are becoming less affective. We need to safeguard these precious drugs until new ones become available. Unfortunately, this could take between 10 and 20 years so that in the meantime antibiotic resistance continues to rise. ”

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