Brussels, 15 October 2015 - IFAH-Europe welcomes the 5th Report prepared by the European Surveillance of Veterinary Antimicrobial Consumption (ESVAC) group. It presents standardised sales data gathered annually on veterinary antimicrobials by class in cooperation with national authorities, and is coordinated by the European Medicines Agency. IFAH-Europe is very supportive of the European Medicines Agency's efforts in continuing to gather these data, which now includes approximately 95% of the food-producing animal population in the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) represented in this report, with data submitted from 26 countries. This year's report shows encouraging developments in terms of responsible use of antibiotics in animals.
From IFAH-Europe's point of view, this yearly report is important as it supports the concept of transparency of antibiotic use in animals in line with Action n° 10 from the European Commission's Action Plan “Against the Rising Threats from Antimicrobial Resistance - strengthen surveillance systems on AMR and antimicrobial consumption in animal medicine”.
This year's report also sees the launch of a new interactive database, which will allow users to access a summary of specific ESVAC data, and generate charts, maps etc. tailored to their needs.
For Europe's animal health industry it is essential to ensure the responsible use of antibiotics. Monitoring and transparency, as well as the promotion of education on what responsible use of antibiotics means, is vital to ensure their continued use in the future to safeguard the health and welfare of animals and people alike.
The data gathered through reports such as ESVAC on sales and use of antibiotics in food-producing animals are vital to ensure better informed decision-making across Europe for the development on policies related to the responsible use of antibiotics. It is necessary to continue the promotion of responsible use of medicines in animals and interventions to ensure best practices where necessary. Alongside good biosecurity, appropriate housing, good nutrition, herd health programmes, vaccination programmes, and all use of antibiotics under the prescription of a veterinarian, IFAH-Europe firmly supports EPRUMA (www.epruma.eu) and its motto in terms of use of medicines in animals: As little as possible, as much as necessary.