MEPs last week called upon the European Union to step up its efforts to stamp out antimicrobial resistance. In a non-legislative resolution adopted on Thursday (27th October) MEPs called on the union to use antibiotics more wisely in livestock farming.  image expired

Virtually untreatable, antibiotic resistant ‘superbugs’ claim the lives of around 25,000 people in the EU each year and MEPs said they feared this figure could grow as a result of overuse of antibiotics in agriculture and misuse in medicine. Jo Leinen, Public Health Committee chair for the Parliament, declared, "The growing ineffectiveness of antibiotics is already a serious problem today and a potential health time bomb for the future. We need a clear EU and international strategy to prevent misuse in agriculture and medicine, as well as to encourage the development of new antibiotics."

In the EU, the use of antibiotics to promote animal growth is already illegal, but MEPs said last week that their use as pre-emptive "prophylactics" should also be phased out in order to preserve the drugs’ effectiveness; there have been very few discoveries of new antibiotics in recent years.

The parliament also agreed that active ingredients used in veterinary and human medicines should be kept as separate as possible to reduce risks of resistance transferring between animals and humans and said veterinarians should reserve antibiotic treatment for ‘last resort’ cases in agriculture, to minimise the chance of widespread resistance developing.

However, farming industry representatives have expressed outrage over the proposals, which they believe could threaten profitability and animal welfare. The NFU has claimed the resolution goes too far and said it wants more research into resistance to antimicrobials.

NFU Brussels spokesperson Dawn Howard maligned, "In certain cases, acting on the sound advice of a trained animal vet, farmers need to use prophylactic treatment to ensure their livestock remain fit and healthy. We are extremely disappointed with the MEP vote."

The European Commission is expected to unveil a five year action plan on antimicrobial use later this month. The parliament asked the Commission to base its forthcoming proposals around four key points identified by MEPS on Thursday. The four points outlined by the parliament are:

1. cautious use of antimicrobial agents both for humans and for animals, reserved for uses effectively needed for actual treatment of disease, with the correct dosage, dose intervals and duration;

2. monitoring and surveillance of antimicrobial resistance;

3. research into and development of new antimicrobial agents and alternatives; and

4. links with measures to combat resistance to antimicrobial agents in veterinary medicines, animal feedingstuffs and crop-growing.