On the 14th April 2016, Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics and Medact jointly hosted a conference, bringing together multi-disciplinary stakeholders; from policy-makers, health professionals, livestock farmers and veterinarians, to scientists, civil-society and environmental groups, to explore practical steps to reduce farm antibiotic use.
The Alliance to Save our Antibiotics unveiled their new report at the conference, showing that the effectiveness of fluoroquinolone antibiotics, which are classified as critically important in human medicine, is being undermined by their continued use in poultry.
“It is tempting to look for win-win solutions, but the changes required will inevitably lead to a differential distribution of costs and benefits across different groups. This is ultimately a complex and political challenge, and we need to get the right balance between science, evidence, normative principles and ethics.”
Concluding remarks by Dr David McCoy, Director of Medact
In the Media
The conference gained initial media coverage in The Guardian, Farmer’s Weekly, Global Meat News and the Grocer. Since it has re-featured in Farmer’s Weekly as well as being covered by Poultry World and Farm Business.
Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics press release can be viewed here.
Conference content
To recap what happened on the day you can download the agenda and speaker biographies. Copies of the speakers presentations can also be accessed below:
- Responsible use – the veterinary perspective, John Blackwell BVSc MRCVS, Senior Vice President at the British Veterinary Association
- Cutting farm antibiotic use can benefit public health, Cóilín Nunan, Principal Scientific Adviser for Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics
- Colistin resistance – what we found and why it matters, Professor Tim Walsh, Professor of Medical Microbiology and Antibiotic Resistance at Cardiff University
- Antibiotic stewardship in the UK dairy sector, Mr David Tisdall BVSc (hons) CertCHP FHEA MRCVS, Clinical Teaching Fellow in Farm Animal Sciences at the University of Bristol
- Interventions that have taken place in the Netherlands to reduce farm antibiotic use, Hetty Van Beers Schreurs DVM, PhD, SDa Managing Director of the Veterinary Medicine Authority
- Prudent use of antibiotics in the animal sector – Lessons from Sweden, Dr Jenny Lundström, Guest Researcher at ReAct
- Protecting public health through effective policy, MP Kerry McCarthy, Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- Reducing farm antibiotics through better welfare, Peter Stevenson, Chief Policy Adviser at Compassion in World Farming
- Progress in Europe in human antimicrobial resistance reduction strategies, Professor Barry Cookson BDS, MBBS, MSc, HonDipHIC, FRSPH, FRCP, FFPH, FRCPath Hon Professor University College London (UCL) and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)
Video footage to follow
For more information about Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics please contact Emma [email protected]
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