Open AccessUnderstanding policy dilemmas around antibiotic use in food animals & offering potential solutions
Author(s) -
Kāmini Walia,
Monica Sharma,
Sonam Vijay,
Bibek Ranjan Shome
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
indian journal of medical research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.578
H-Index - 87
ISSN - 0971-5916
DOI - 10.4103/ijmr.ijmr_2_18
Subject(s) - government (linguistics) , antibiotic resistance , livestock , business , action (physics) , antibiotics , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , biology , ecology , philosophy , linguistics , physics , quantum mechanics
The looming concern of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has prompted the government of many countries of the world to act upon and come up with the guidelines, comprehensive recommendations and policies concerning prudent use of antibiotics and containment of AMR. However, such initiatives from countries with high incidence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in food animals are still in infancy. This review highlights the existing global policies on antibiotics use in food animals along with details of the various Indian policies and guidelines. In India, in spite of availability of integrated policies for livestock, poultry and aquaculture sector, uniform regulations with coordinated initiative are needed to formulate strict policies regarding antimicrobial use both in humans and animals. In an attempt to create effective framework to tackle the AMR, the Indian Council of Medical Research initiated a series of dialogues with various stakeholders and suggested various action points for urgent implementation. This review summarizes the recommendations made during the various consultations. The overarching aim of this review is to clearly delineate the action points which need to be carried out urgently to regulate the antibiotic use in animals.