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News & Reports
veterinary medicines
US task force launches action plan to tackle AMR in production agriculture RECOMMENDATIONS for an effective educational and outreach strategy to support a national action plan for tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the USA have been set out in a report by a US task force, which has looked at the issue of AMR in production animal agriculture. In its report, which was published on October 29, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities/Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) Task Force on Antibiotic Resistance in Production Agriculture details a comprehensive educational, outreach and research agenda, together with plans for how it intends to implement it. The task force was formed in autumn 2014, bringing together representatives of US agricultural colleges, land-grant universities and veterinary colleges with representatives from the production animal agriculture community and the pharmaceutical industry. It has been working closely with federal government agencies to develop an action plan that aims to harness the collective strengths and expertise of North American universities to address the problem of AMR. The task force says that it believes that ‘agriculture and animal health must be full partners with the human medical community in a truly or fully integrated
national action plan’. Throughout its report, it emphasises the importance of embracing a One Health approach to the issue of AMR. Its report sets out a number of recommendations relating to education and outreach, saying that there needs to be greater emphasis on antimicrobial stewardship programmes, education and training to ensure that efforts to address AMR are successful. Its recommendations include the design and implementation of a model curriculum to improve awareness and understanding of the issue and to help in the implementation of effective actions to combat AMR. It also recommends developing and delivering a series of public education and communication plans, strategies and messages, saying that ‘Editorials, media communications and interviews, publications, webinars, and social media channels should be used to deliver educational messages and services.’ The report also makes recommendations relating to the research needed to improve understanding of AMR, find alternatives to current antibiotics and to assess AMR in production agriculture. Because of their expertise in both animal and public health, veterinarians will play a critical role in the success of efforts to tackle AMR, the task force says. It notes
that the role of veterinarians in animal agricultural production has become even more important since the US Food and Drug Administration introduced new guidance to enhance veterinary oversight of antibiotics used in animal production (see, for example, VR, July 12, 2014, vol 175, p 34). It points out that a number of its key recommendations are based on access to veterinarians and it therefore recommends that representatives of veterinarians and government officials should work together to help resolve the issue of lack of access to veterinarians in many rural communities across the USA. ‘Our task force has focused on the role animal agriculture is playing in this problem and our colleges of veterinary medicine play an instrumental role in those agricultural production systems,’ said Andrew T. Maccabe, executive director of the AAVMC. ‘Effective solutions are going to require a collaborative approach, and one of the great strengths of this task force report is that it includes perspectives and contributions from government, academia and industry.’ n The task force’s full report, together with a summary, is available at www.aavmc.org/ PressRelease/?id=329 doi: 10.1136/vr.h5909 November 7, 2015 | Veterinary Record | 459
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on September 24, 2017 - Published by group.bmj.com
US task force launches action plan to tackle AMR in production agriculture Veterinary Record 2015 177: 459
doi: 10.1136/vr.h5909 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/177/18/459
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To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
News & Reports
veterinary medicines
US task force launches action plan to tackle AMR in production agriculture RECOMMENDATIONS for an effective educational and outreach strategy to support a national action plan for tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the USA have been set out in a report by a US task force, which has looked at the issue of AMR in production animal agriculture. In its report, which was published on October 29, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities/Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) Task Force on Antibiotic Resistance in Production Agriculture details a comprehensive educational, outreach and research agenda, together with plans for how it intends to implement it. The task force was formed in autumn 2014, bringing together representatives of US agricultural colleges, land-grant universities and veterinary colleges with representatives from the production animal agriculture community and the pharmaceutical industry. It has been working closely with federal government agencies to develop an action plan that aims to harness the collective strengths and expertise of North American universities to address the problem of AMR. The task force says that it believes that ‘agriculture and animal health must be full partners with the human medical community in a truly or fully integrated
national action plan’. Throughout its report, it emphasises the importance of embracing a One Health approach to the issue of AMR. Its report sets out a number of recommendations relating to education and outreach, saying that there needs to be greater emphasis on antimicrobial stewardship programmes, education and training to ensure that efforts to address AMR are successful. Its recommendations include the design and implementation of a model curriculum to improve awareness and understanding of the issue and to help in the implementation of effective actions to combat AMR. It also recommends developing and delivering a series of public education and communication plans, strategies and messages, saying that ‘Editorials, media communications and interviews, publications, webinars, and social media channels should be used to deliver educational messages and services.’ The report also makes recommendations relating to the research needed to improve understanding of AMR, find alternatives to current antibiotics and to assess AMR in production agriculture. Because of their expertise in both animal and public health, veterinarians will play a critical role in the success of efforts to tackle AMR, the task force says. It notes
that the role of veterinarians in animal agricultural production has become even more important since the US Food and Drug Administration introduced new guidance to enhance veterinary oversight of antibiotics used in animal production (see, for example, VR, July 12, 2014, vol 175, p 34). It points out that a number of its key recommendations are based on access to veterinarians and it therefore recommends that representatives of veterinarians and government officials should work together to help resolve the issue of lack of access to veterinarians in many rural communities across the USA. ‘Our task force has focused on the role animal agriculture is playing in this problem and our colleges of veterinary medicine play an instrumental role in those agricultural production systems,’ said Andrew T. Maccabe, executive director of the AAVMC. ‘Effective solutions are going to require a collaborative approach, and one of the great strengths of this task force report is that it includes perspectives and contributions from government, academia and industry.’ n The task force’s full report, together with a summary, is available at www.aavmc.org/ PressRelease/?id=329 doi: 10.1136/vr.h5909 November 7, 2015 | Veterinary Record | 459
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on September 24, 2017 - Published by group.bmj.com
US task force launches action plan to tackle AMR in production agriculture Veterinary Record 2015 177: 459
doi: 10.1136/vr.h5909 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/177/18/459
These include:
Email alerting service
Receive free email alerts when new articles cite this article. Sign up in the box at the top right corner of the online article.
Notes
To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
