Resources from the event are now available on this page

Antibiotics and Farming: Prescriptions for change

14th April 2016, Kennedy Lecture Theatre, Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, WC1N 1EH

The critical nature of antimicrobial resistance has been well documented by experts across the globe, and the inappropriate use of drugs in livestock farming is widely recognised as a contributory risk.

The UK Government-appointed O’Neill Review found that there is “compelling” scientific evidence that antibiotic resistance is being transmitted from farm animals to humans and states that this warrants a significant reduction in farm antibiotic use. The recent finding of colistin-resistant E. coli from pigs and humans in England and Wales is the latest sign that the future efficacy of our antibiotics is under threat.

And yet, the overuse of these vital medicines within the farming sector continues. Across Europe, twice as many antibiotics are used in farm animals than are used in humans. Routine, purely preventative dosing of groups of healthy animals remains legal within the EU, despite opposition from the European Medicines Agency and several European countries. In the UK, veterinary use of antibiotics classified as “critically important for humans” is at an all-time high.

Our conference will bring together multi-disciplinary stakeholders; from policy-makers, health professionals, livestock farmers and veterinarians, to scientists, civil-society and environmental groups. The event will explore practical steps to reduce farm antibiotic use; drawing on successful interventions taking place across the EU.

Download the full Agenda here

Travel

Train – King’s Cross and Euston mainline railway stations are within walking distance and the Institute is easily accessible by underground from other national and international rail terminals including Charing Cross, Waterloo, Victoria, Marylebone, Paddington and Liverpool Street.  The closest underground stations are Holborn on the Central Line and Russell Square on the Piccadilly Line.

Parking – There are no parking facilities for delegates but there are National Car Parks in Marchmont Street and Judd Street. There are also meters on the roads adjacent to the Institute.

A map is also available from the institute’s website 

Facilities for the disabled

All the conference facilities including the lecture theatre are easily accessible by wheelchair and the theatre is fitted with an induction loop system. Please confirm if you would like to make use of these facilities.

Refreshments

Tea and coffee will be provided as will a sandwich lunch. Please let us know as soon as possible if you have any dietary requirements.

For more information, please contact Claire [email protected], 07814 910 295

The Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics is a coalition of health, medical, environmental and animal welfare groups campaigning to stop the overuse of antibiotics in animal farming. It was founded by Compassion in World Farming, the Soil Association and Sustain and is supported by the Jeremy Coller Foundation

Medact is a London-based global health charity whose goal is to inspire and enable health professionals to act on the social, political, ecological and economic determinants of health and health inequality. Its work with Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics is part of a larger body of work supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation