EDITORIAL: Animal Health Key to Reducing Antibiotic Use

The importance of animal health and the veterinary profession are key to reducing the use of antibiotics in the livestock industry, according to the President of the Federal Association of Practising Veterinarians in Germany.

Speaking at the EuroTier trade show in Hanover, Dr Hans-Joachim Götz, President of the Federal Association of Practising Veterinarians (Bundesverband Praktizierender Tierärzte e.V. - bpt) said that the development and selection of antibiotic resistances have been major issues for some time now, not only in Germany but also worldwide.

In the European Union, a number of possible ways of tackling the problem are being considered.

In Germany, it is now the declared political intent to sustainably lower the quantities of antibiotics used in veterinarian medicine.

The focus is on the finishing sector, which the findings of the study by the German Institute of Medical Documentation and Information (DIMDI) say is the field where by far the greatest quantity of antibiotics is used.

The matter has already found its way into the draft of a 16th Amendment to the Medicinal Products Act (known by its German acronym AMG). There are also similar considerations at EU level.

Dr Götz said the bpt welcomed responsible use of antibiotics in animal husbandry, but did not consider the path chosen in the 16th Amendment to the AMG to be helpful in achieving the objective.

In the view of the Association, effective reduction of antibiotic consumption can only be achieved by improving animal health, but not by capping antibiotic quantities or restricting therapeutic options.

Away from the EuroTier exhibition, India is on course to become the largest beef exporter in the world.

India's buffalo exports have risen from 609,000 tonnes in 2009 to a projected 2,160,000 tonnes in 2013. This is partly attributed to the growing dairying sector which, since 2003, has grown three to four per cent annually.

High beef prices have stimulated India's beef sector and farmers have been slaughtering previously unproductive animals, with many of these animals now taken from the dairy herds.