Vets and the government have welcomed a “significant” drop in the amounts of antibiotics sold for animals — but there is still work to be done.
A Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) report into antibiotic resistance and sales, released last month, shows a 53% reduction in sales of antibiotics for food-producing animals over the past four years, with a 68% drop in sales of highest-priority, critically important antibiotics in the same time.
In equine-only sales, there has been a 64% drop since 2017, 85% since 2014.
VMD chief executive Peter Borriello described the drop as a “remarkable achievement”, but warned that action on resistance is “for everyone”, as the key in reducing this is reducing use.
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