Following recent stories about growing resistance to antibiotics, and the links between treatment of farm animals and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), government advisors are celebrating, as the latest official figures show a reduction in the sales of antibiotics for use on Britain’s farms.

Veterinary advisors said figures released by Defra showing a 9% decrease in sales of antibiotics between 2014 and 2015 put the UK on track to meet the government’s targets to tackle antibiotic resistance. The drop in sales (9% by weight, bringing the amount of antibiotics used in farm animals down to 56mg per kilo) puts the UK on track to reach its 50mg/kg target by 2018. Defra said there was also a drop in sales of the highest priority antibiotics in 2015.

In May, a report commissioned by the UK government warned that antibiotic resistance could be claiming a human life every three seconds by 2050, as widespread AMR would make certain diseases untreatable and mean surgeries currently considered routine would become life threatening. Scientists behind the discovery of bacteria resistant to polymyxins (a family of antibiotics used as a last resort treatment in human medicine) in China late last year, and Europe earlier this year, put the development of resistance down to the use of antibiotics in agriculture, though farming groups and vets’ associations have sought to downplay the link.   

193 countries agreed to combat the growing problem in the UN General Assembly this year, and Defra has also promised to produce long-term sector-specific reduction targets by 2017, but campaigners have called for these words to be translated into deeds.

AMR: Greatest threat to modern medicine

Commenting on Thursday’s report, Defra Minister Lord Gardiner said, “Antibiotic resistance is the biggest threat to modern medicine and we must act now to help keep antibiotics effective for future generations. This report shows the hard work of our vets and farmers is already making a real impact. Our farmers and vets are setting an excellent example for others around the world to follow, upholding the UK’s position at the forefront of international efforts to tackle AMR.”

On Thursday, Defra highlighted the work of the UK’s agriculture sector in cutting antibiotics use, including the meat poultry industry almost halving its use of critically important antibiotics between 2012 and 2015, and the pig industry’s recent launch of an online system to record, benchmark and - eventually - control antibiotic use.

However, campaigners from the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics said that, though the 9% reduction in sales of antibiotics is a welcome one, overall progress towards tackling resistance and cutting use has been slow. The Alliance claimed that, even accounting for Defra’s headline reductions, total UK farm antibiotic use has only fallen by 1% since 1993.

In a statement, the Alliance noted, “The report highlights a small fall in sales of some of the antibiotics classed as ‘critically important’ for humans, modern cephalosporins fell from 1.332 kg to 1,202 kg, and fluoroquinolones fell from 2,590 kg to 2,529 kg. Again, we welcome the reductions in farm use, but remain extremely concerned that UK farm use of these antibiotics remains close to record levels.”

Commenting on Thursday, the UK’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, said, “We need everyone to take action to prevent the spread of drug resistant infections. Inappropriate antibiotic use in the farming sector is known to contribute to the development of drug resistant infections. Countries or areas that use more antibiotics often have higher rates of resistant bacteria that are harder to treat.

“I welcome the progress being made by farmers and vets in the UK. This action, combined with the efforts of health professionals to reduce inappropriate prescribing in human health demonstrates the truly ‘One Health’ approach the UK is taking to save modern medicine. It is critical we work together to get this right… locally, nationally and internationally to get the best outcomes for humans, animals and the environment.”

However, noting that commentators in Britain often point to the total drug consumption levels of countries like the Netherlands, France and Denmark, which have larger pig and poultry industries, and therefore consume greater amounts of antibiotics, the Alliance to Save our Antibiotics highlighted that total antibiotic use per livestock unit in Britain’s pig and poultry sectors remains between 3 and 4.3 times higher than in Denmark and the Netherlands. “Antibiotic use in British pigs alone remains about five times higher per animal than it is in these countries,” according to the Alliance.