CIEL | News: AFBI is seeking your views on veterinary medicine use across NI’s farms
Maintaining high levels of animal health is a key pillar to enhance profitability on farm and reduce the environmental impact of livestock systems.
How we manage our animals, biosecurity procedures, how we deliver health plans, design housing, and administer vaccines are all aimed at protecting and enhancing animal health on farms. Furthermore, the responsible use of veterinary medicine, such as antibiotics, plays an important role in the fight against disease, with many of these antibiotics used to treat both humans and animals. However, growing resistance against antibiotics (antimicrobial resistance -AMR) has been highlighted as one of the most serious threats to health across the world.
The Northern Ireland Changing the Culture ‘One Health’ action plan 2019 – 2024 promotes the responsible use of antimicrobials, particularly antibiotics in human and veterinary medicine. This One Health plan outlines a variety of actions around reducing infection and unintentional exposure, optimizing the use of antibiotics, and investing in innovation, supply, and access to tackle AMR.
Data released from the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance (RUMA) has shown that the UK farming industry has embraced the responsible use of antibiotics in recent years, with UK sales of antibiotics for cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry showing reductions of 55% since 2014, making the UK one of the lowest users of antibiotics for livestock in Europe.
A key step in tackling AMR in NI livestock is to better understand what veterinary medicine are being used and why. AFBI, along with stakeholders have developed a short anonymous survey to capture information on farmers views and opinions on antimicrobial use, antimicrobial resistance, and its potential effect on their farms, how they prevent and treat disease on their farm and where they source advice and information from on this topic. The analysis of information from the survey will help inform future DAERA policies.
If you are a livestock farmer, please complete AFBI’s short survey!
As a thank you, there is a draw you can opt into where you could win one of several prizes: an EID stick reader (worth £600), a 10.5” tablet (worth £250) or a £50 voucher which can be used at a wide range of shops and online outlets.
AFBI have tried to make this survey easy to complete by including some suggested answers and have also provided questions with space for you to add your own answers. This will help AFBI to identify if there are illnesses that are causing issues, or if you’ve found any effective strategies to help lower disease incidence or antimicrobial use on your farm. All survey responses are anonymous.
This survey is being funded by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs. It is an important survey which has the potential to shape DAERA policy going forward.
The survey is available both online and in paper format with prepaid return postage. To take part in the survey online please visit: https://online1.snapsurveys.com/dc0gf
