Report highlights declining sales of vet antibiotics in Europe

A report yesterday from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) shows a significant drop in overall sales of veterinary antibiotics across Europe.

The data from the EMA’s eighth European Surveillance of Veterinary Antimicrobial Consumption (ESVAC) report show a 20.1% decline in sales of antibiotics for food-producing animals in 25 European Union (EU) countries from 2011 through 2016, with notable decreases in the sales of antibiotics that are critically important in human medicine. The EMA says the reduction shows that efforts by the EU, its member states, and various stakeholders to promote prudent use of antibiotics in the animal sector are having a positive impact.

“Reduction in sales is the result of combined efforts of the European Commission, EMA, EU Member States, veterinarians, farmers and other actors in the livestock sector,” the agency said in a press release.

Reducing the use of antibiotics in food-producing animals is a key pillar of the EU’s One Health Action Plan against Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), which aims to slow the emergence and spread of drug-resistant pathogens in humans, animals, and the environment.

Source: CIDRAP

Report: ESVAC report