While 49 countries from Asia, Far East, Oceania and Europe reported an overall reduction in antimicrobials used, the remaining 31 from African and American regions reported an overall increase
The global usage of antimicrobials in animals has dropped by 13 per cent in three years from 2017 to 2019, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said in its seventh report on antibiotic use released recently.
The analysis is based on the data provided by the 80 countries that consistently updated on antimicrobial use in animals.
However, the report also pointed out regional differences: While 49 countries from Asia, Far East, Oceania and Europe reported an overall reduction in antimicrobials used, the remaining 31 from African and American regions reported an overall increase.
WOAH is one of the quadripartite members leading the global momentum of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) containment.
While 182 members and 11 non-members were invited to participate in this global analysis, 157 participants submitted their data to WOAH.
Among them, just 121 participants submitted quantitative data for at least one year, with only 74 reporting specific amounts of antimicrobial products categorised by type of use and administration route.
Among all WOAH regions, the number of participants reporting antimicrobial quantities has increased significantly in America and Africa.
This year, WOAH also introduced an interactive online platform called the Global Database for ANImalantiMicrobial USE (ANIMUSE) to expedite data accessibility and contribute towards evidence-based decision-making.
Referring to the targets set at the Third Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance held in Oman in November 2022, Monique Eloit, director general of WOAH, said:
ANIMUSE plays a key role in supporting members’ actions to achieve this target, helping veterinary workforces to understand and monitor AMU in a harmonised and comparable way.
During the ministerial conference, 47 countries committed to reduce the total amount of antimicrobials used in animals and agriculture by at least 30-50 per cent by 2030.
Around 107 of 157 participants (68 per cent) have discontinued the use of antimicrobials as growth promoters, with or without legislation, the report showed.
However, growth promoters are still being employed by 41 out of 157 participants (26 per cent). Some 23 out of these 41 reported lack of proper legislation or regulations on using growth promoters.
The remaining 6 per cent (nine out of 157) expressed uncertainty regarding their use. Approximately half of the users of antimicrobial growth promoters are in the regions of America, Asia, Far East and Oceania.
Of 157, only 24 participants provided details on the type of antimicrobial agents being used as growth promoters. Among these, flavomycin, bacitracin, avilamycin and tylosin were the most frequently used.
While flavomycin and avilamycin are currently excluded from human use, bacitracin is not classified among WHO’s critically important antimicrobials (CIAs).
However, tylosin, classified as one of the highest priority critically important antimicrobials (HP-CIAs), was reported to be used by 11 out of 24 participants. Colistin, an HP-CIA, is currently being used by four out of 24 participants.
Additionally, other HP-CIAs such as erythromycin, kitasamycin and spiramycin and CIAs such as fosfomycin, amoxicillin, apramycin and neomycin have also been reported to be used as growth promoters by a few countries.
The major barriers to reporting quantitative data, according to the WOAH, were lack of IT tools, funds and human resources; lack of regulatory frameworks; lack of coordination and cooperation between national authorities and the private sector; insufficient regulatory enforcement and circumstances that prevent monitoring antimicrobial agents.
A 2019 analysis conducted on 110 participants showed 77,086 tonnes of antimicrobials were used by them. Of this, a significant 55 per cent came from the Asia, Far East and Oceania region.
Additionally, tetracyclines comprised approximately 35.6 per cent of the total amount used, followed by penicillins (13.3 per cent) and polypeptides (8.7 per cent). Among the HP-CIAs, macrolides (8.7 per cent) and fluoroquinolones (3.4 per cent) were also reported among the utilised antimicrobials.
Notably, substantial reductions were observed for tetracyclines (19 per cent) and polypeptides (29 per cent).
While progress has been made, causing a shift in the use of some CIAs, further efforts must be continued to safeguard the efficacy of these important medicines.
“In a world where the development of a new antibiotic demands over a decade of dedicated effort and an investment of one billion dollars, it becomes everyone’s responsibility to make sure that our current antibiotic arsenal remains effective for generations to come,” read a press release issued by WOAH.
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