engleski

One Health concept: the importance of rationale antimicrobial drugs use

ONE HEALTH CONCEPT: THE IMPORTANCE OF RATIONAL ANTIMICROBIAL DRUGS USE Frane Božić Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Croatia Antimicrobials are used widely in veterinary medicine. This includes therapeutic use to treat clinically sick animals. It also includes non-therapeutic use such as for growth promotion and/or as prophylaxis to try to prevent infections developing in food animals. The advantages generated by the use of antimicrobials for food animals transcends more than just the well-being of the animals, as it has also brought about economic benefits for the food animal producers and a more secured and safer health for the general public. Nevertheless, there are conflicting opinions regarding the proper role of antimicrobials in the production of livestock and poultry. As there are only a limited number of antimicrobial classes available and as a range of antibiotics is required to treat the many different species of animals that face particular disease threats, some classes of antibiotics are used in both people and animals. Certain antibiotic classes are categorised by the World Health Organization (WHO) as “critically important antibiotics (CIAs)” for human use, of which several are designated as “highest priority critically important antibiotics (HP-CIAs)”. In December 2014, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) published scientific advice on the risk to humans from antibiotic resistance caused by the use of HP-CIAs in animals. Based on the current scientific evidence supporting a reduction of antibiotic usage practices because they may pose a serious risk to both animal and human health through ever-increasing rates of antimicrobial resistance, the recommendations provided by the EMA gives veterinary surgeons an important piece of scientific evidence to factor into their clinical treatment decision making and to responsibly prescribes antibiotics. In conclusion, it is important to stress that the unnecessary or wasteful use of antibiotics should be reduced when their use for a particular disease condition is not efficacious or when non-antibiotic solutions are readily available. It is upon this common ground that the human and veterinary medical communities call for the proper and prudent use of antibiotics.

Antimicrobials ; CIAs ; Antibiotic resistance

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