AHI Urges Veterinarian and Farmer Input Into Antimicrobial Discussions

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Farm-Scape, Episode 1163

The Canadian Animal Health Institute is urging veterinarians and farmers to become involved in discussions that will determine the future role of antimicrobials in livestock production. A federal advisory committee report on antimicrobial use in livestock production was made public in September and Health Canada is accepting additional input as it considers the report's recommendations.

Canadian Animal Health Institute President Jean Szkotnicki says five of the 38 recommendations are key.

"One recommendation is that all drugs for treatment and control be made prescription only so we may see changes in distribution so that they be primarily sourced through the veterinarians.

A second recommendation is that growth promotants and feed efficiency products be evaluated for efficacy and to see if they have ramifications relative to our ability to treat humans due to the development of resistant bacterial strains.

A third point that I would raise is that antimicrobials will also need to be evaluated relative to their implication to human medicine and our ability to treat humans. In looking at that we may see that some products won't be able to be used extra label by the veterinary profession.

The other two recommendations apply to unapproved products. The advisory committee recommended that active pharmaceutical ingredients no longer be made available for food animal production and producers not be able to bring unapproved product in for their own use."

Szkotnicki says the proposed changes will impact veterinarians and producers and she urges them to become involved to ensure there are practical approaches to antimicrobial availability and use.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.