Proper Medicine Use Prevents Antimicrobial Resistance: SADER

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER) launched a campaign to promote the proper use of medicines in livestock to reduce antimicrobial resistance. Its short-term objective is to raise awareness of the adverse effects of antibiotic misuse.

“The use of the first antimicrobials in the world began a little over a century ago and it is worrying that humanity has to face problems derived from multi-resistance to this type of drugs, to the detriment of the health of people and animals. This is derived from the fact that antimicrobials are used in an indiscriminate and unnecessary manner when administered to healthy animals or those suffering from a disease that could be controlled with other types of drugs,” said Juan Gay Gutiérrez, General Director of Animal Health, SENASICA, during a SADER virtual seminar.

Multiple bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites are already showing resistance to drugs, reported the Unit for Services, Diagnosis and Verification (UISDC) and the National Service for Agrifood Health, Safety and Quality (SENASICA) during the seminar. This resistance will represent a significant threat to agriculture in the long term because livestock and agricultural production require effective medicines.

Antimicrobial drugs are mainly used in crops and animal populations to prevent production losses. Resistant parasites could lead to repercussions like significant agricultural losses and the mutation of pests and diseases, as previously mentioned in MBN.

Various international organizations like World Health Organization (WHO), the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Animal Health Organization (OIE) attended the seminar to promote safe practices to avoid the further propagation of antimicrobial resistant organisms.

To address this problem, veterinarians and producers should apply preventive, hygiene and sanitary measures and reduce the use of medicines to combat infections in livestock, said Gay. FAO had also warned that the world may soon reach a tipping point where antimicrobial resistance overtakes heart disease and other lifestyle-associated diseases as the leading cause of death. This issue also threatens humans directly by forcing patients to use more costly pharmaceuticals to threaten more dangerous infections. Antimicrobial resistance could increase COVID-19-related deaths, as patients could develop secondary infections not responsive to medicines, further complicating their treatment, as mentioned in MBN.