RUMA welcomes Panorama’s programme on antibiotic resistance
The Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance (RUMA) welcomes the excellent Panorama programme on antibiotic resistance (Antibiotics Apocalypse broadcast on BBC1, 18 May 2015).
The Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance (RUMA) welcomes the excellent Panorama programme on antibiotic resistance (Antibiotics Apocalypse broadcast on BBC1, 18 May 2015).
The programme painted a clear picture of the use of antibiotics in human medicine and the potentially serious impact of antibiotic resistance on treating human bacterial infections. It highlighted the need for new antibiotics and responsible management of current antibiotics. It set out the global nature of antibiotic resistance, which does not recognise borders, and the importance of carbapenems as a medical antibiotic of last choice. Particular concerns were raised over the uncontrolled availability of carbapenems in emerging markets such as India where it is possible to buy even single doses over the counter, without a doctor’s prescription.
Panorama briefly focussed on the inappropriate use of antibiotics in animals in the United States, focussing on their use in growth promotion (banned in the EU since 2006), and presented the example of American farmed salmon eating their body weight of antibiotics over their lifetime.
John FitzGerald, RUMA Secretary General, said “This was a balanced programme which correctly concentrated on antibiotic use in humans which is widely recognised as the major source of antibiotic resistance in humans”. He added that “the livestock sector must not be complacent”, stressing that “antibiotics should be used responsibly on farm to minimise the risk of animal use leading to resistance in humans” and encouraged farmers and vets to follow RUMA Guidelines.
Commenting on the animal issues raised by Panorama, Mr FitzGerald pointed out that:
- Antibiotic growth promoters are banned in the EU and have not been used in the UK since January 2006.
- Carbapenems are not authorised for use in food producing animals in the EU and are not used in livestock production in the UK.
- UK salmon farms used only a few hundred kilos of antibiotics to produce 163,000 tonnes of salmon in 2013 (the last year for which figures are available). They use vaccine programmes to prevent disease and, therefore, reduce the need to use antibiotics
