The chances are you take antibiotics to fight infections. They are among our most frequently prescribed medications. If you suffer with food poisoning, you may be prescribed antibiotics to fight the infection. But the antibiotics’ ability to fight infections is being undermined.
Welcome to the post-antibiotic era.
Such is the warning of Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organisation. Speaking on World Health Day this year (April 7), she warned about the use and misuse of antibiotics when she launched a worldwide campaign with the slogan, “No action today, no cure tomorrow”.
Writing in the Veterinary Record this month, the president of the British Veterinary Association and the chairman of the British Medical Association council urged:
“all vets and doctors to ensure that they are using antimicrobials responsibly. It is equally important that non-medical and non-veterinary use is seriously restricted.”
In short, every use of antibiotics increases the risk of microbial resistance in animals and people. The prescription is use sparingly and only when needed. Further, they warn:
“Unless vets and doctors recognise the importance of working together, we could all be faced with a world in which we are unable to control infectious diseases. Antimicrobial resistance does not respect the boundaries between animal and human medicine and a holistic approach is the only way that we can tackle this challenge”.
A dire warning indeed, and one that Compassion has expressed for many years. Fifty per cent of antibiotics worldwide are given to farmed animals.
Bacterial infections which plagued us not so long ago could once again become uncontrollable if we continue to allow the permissive use of antibiotics in factory farming. If our antibiotics become increasingly ineffective how will we control tomorrow’s infections as well as today’s?
This is why I’m pleased to announce a new initiative with the Soil Association and Sustain to form the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics.
As my colleague, Joyce D’Silva, recently explained, the alliance was formed to:
“raise awareness of this threat [antibiotic use and misuse] to human and animal health – and to help everyone, from doctors and vets to mums, families, consumers and retailers to take action to ‘Save Our Antibiotics’. Politicians and the public need to heed the wake-up call from the WHO that we are indeed on the brink of a ‘post-antibiotic era’.”
For more information, please read the news release we issued with our alliance partners. And stay tuned for more announcements on this hugely important area of our work.
