European Commission’s proposals to tackle antibiotic resistance in veterinary medicines and medicated feed laws

Antibiotic resistance is a serious public health issue which needs to be addressed in both the human and veterinary medicine spheres. 

Without antibiotics which work infections become more difficult to cure and stronger drugs, with serious side-effects, must be used. In addition longer hospital stays and increased hospitals costs are usually associated. In certain cases it leads to therapeutic impasse meaning infections become life-threatening. 

Eventually, without these precious drugs common interventions such as surgery or chemotherapy will become highly hazardous and a simple finger cut could escalate into difficult-to-treat infections.

We recommend: 

• Phasing out prophylactic use of antibiotics in livestock;
• Restricting the use of certain antibiotics in veterinary medicine;
• Forbidding off-label use of certain antibiotics in livestock;
• Setting up a record system for consumption data;
• Decoupling the sale and prescription of antibiotics;
• Banning the preventive use of antibiotics in feed.