Overuse of antibiotics threatens global health

Take action today to encourage healthier farming and reduce the overuse of antibiotics in farm animals.

A world without effective antibiotics is a terrifying but real prospect. Overuse of antibiotics has led to dangerous outbreaks of drug resistant disease, and puts us in very real danger of a global pandemic.

GPs are taking steps to reduce the use of antibiotics for minor infections. Yet millions of factory farmed animals are routinely given antibiotics when they are not even sick. Disease can spread quickly in the crowded, confined conditions of an intensive farm, and drugs are given as a preventative – rather than farmers addressing the root of the problem and turning to higher welfare systems.

It is vital that we take action now to ensure we can benefit from these life saving drugs in the future, and that’s why we have teamed up with Sustain and the Soil Association to form the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics and produced a report on antibiotics in farming.

Ireland currently holds the EU Presidency and will lead the investigations into the use of antibiotics. Please write to the Irish Chief Veterinary Officer today to raise your concerns, highlight our report, and press for an overall 50% reduction in antibiotic use on EU Farms by 2015.

Fill in your details below and click submit to send an email to the Irish Chief Veterinary Officer.

To: The Chief Veterinary Officer, Ireland

Dear Martin Blake,

I am very concerned about the overuse of antibiotics in animal husbandry, particularly in farming systems.

As Ireland hold the EU Presidency, and therefore lead on this important subject, I would like to call on you to address this issue.

In particular I would like to see: a target to reduce overall antibiotic use on EU farms by 50% by 2015; specific controls on the use in livestock of ‘critically important’ human antibiotics; and closing the loophole whereby antibiotics can still be used as growth promoters on farm animals in the EU.

I want to draw your attention to two new reports produced by the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics. This new Alliance sees three established organizations; Compassion in World Farming, Sustain and the Soil Association, working together to highlight the latest research and support EU moves to address the issue of routine use of antibiotics in farm animals.

I am pleased to be able to share these reports with you and give my support for viable, alternative models of good animal health and hope that you will lead discussions that will result in the key recommendations being implemented throughout the EU.

The full scientific report can be found here.

A 30 page synopsis can found here.

Yours sincerely,

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