Global Antibiotic Use in Livestock

Context

A recent study by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) states that worldwide antibiotic use in farm animals should increase by 30% by 2040, highlighting the urgent need for interventions to cut back this trend.

Key Highlights

• Antibiotics are used for treating infections, and as growth promoters and preventive marketers.
• The overuse and misuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture have extended the improvement of drug-resistant microorganisms, posing risks to both animal and human health.
• AMR should make common infections harder to deal with, growing healthcare costs and mortality rates.
• WHO called it a ‘silent pandemic’, as it poses a critical threat of exacerbating antimicrobial resistance, wherein bacteria evolve to withstand antibiotic remedy.
• Drug-resistant infections already cause over 1.2 million deaths globally every year.
• Antibiotic use in farm animals is expected to rise from 110,777 tons in 2019 to 143,481 lots by 2040, representing a 29.5% growth.

Key geographic regions are:

• Asia and the Pacific Region: 64.6%
• South America: 19%
• Africa: 5.7%
• North America: 5.5% and
• Europe: 5.2%

Role of Antibiotics in Livestock

• Therapeutic Use: Antibiotics are used to deal with bacterial infections in animals, ensuring their health and productivity.
• Preventive Use: Prophylactic administration of antibiotics helps prevent diseases in wholesome animals, especially in intensive farming structures.
• Growth Promotion: In a few areas, antibiotics are used to enhance growth prices and feed performance, despite the fact that this exercise is more and more discouraged globally.

Key Drivers Behind the Surge

• Intensive Farming Systems: Large-scale industrial farms regularly rely upon antibiotics to keep animal health in crowded, high-pressure environments.
• Regulatory Gaps: Many countries lack strict tips on antibiotic usage in animals, or fail to put in force them successfully.
• Overuse of Antibiotics as Growth Promoters: Antibiotics can help animals develop faster and survive terrible conditions, making them economically appealing in intensive systems.
• Global Trade and Movement: International change in livestock, meat products, and feed can unfold resistant lines across borders.
• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes can spread via cellular genetic elements like plasmids.

Policies and Commitments

• UN General Assembly AMR Declaration (2024): Governments worldwide have pledged to reduce antimicrobial use in agrifood structures by 30–50% by 2030.
  • UNGA acknowledges AMR as a quality assignment to human health, food safety, monetary improvement, and global stability.
• RENOFARM Initiative: It was released via FAO, imparting coverage steerage and technical help to assist countries lessen antibiotic use.
• One Health Approach: It integrates human, animal, and environmental health — to deal with the issue of AMR, as emphasised by FAO, WHO and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).
• Optimizing Livestock Productivity: Improving animal health, control practices, and production efficiency should cut antibiotic use by as much as 57%.
  • Investing in vaccination packages, biosecurity measures, and progressing animal nutrition can reduce the need for antibiotics.
• India’s National Action Plan on AMR: It targets to reduce antibiotic dependency in agriculture.
• Standard Veterinary Treatment Guidelines (SVTG): It was introduced by the Union Ministry of Animal Husbandry to modify using antibiotics in livestock and poultry even as incorporating Ayurvedic and ethnoveterinary practices.

Source: The Hindu

UPSC Mains Practice Question

Q. Livestock rearing has a big potential for providing non-farm employment and income in rural areas. Discuss suggesting suitable measures to promote this sector in India. (2015)

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