The vote is set for mid-September and will mark an important watershed for the survival of many animals. The European Commission is invited to comment on a resolution that would prohibit the use of certain antibiotics for the treatment of animals, reserving them only for the treatment of certain infections in humans. All this to stem the phenomenon of antibiotic resistance (AMR). The Fnovi (National Federation of Italian Veterinary Orders) addressed the President Draghi, the Minister of Health Speranza, the President of the European Parliament David Sassoli, signaling the danger that would be created for the health of the livestock sector, for pets. and for the food safety of Italian and European citizens.
The European Commission and the Member States have drawn up a Delegated Act concerning “the criteria for the choice of antimicrobials to be reserved for the treatment of certain infections in humans”, based on the scientific opinion of the EMA (European Medicines Agency), of EFSA (European Food Safety Authority), OIE (World Organization for Animal Health) and WHO (World Health Organization). The criteria set out in the proposal, which integrates the EU Regulation 2019/6, are three: antimicrobial available for life-threatening infections, transfer of resistance from use in animals to humans and non-essential antimicrobial for the life of humans. animals, based on the respect of the “One Health” approach, that is the health model that sees human health, animal health and ecosystem health inextricably linked.
The contrary motion
On July 13, 2021, the German rapporteur Martin Hausling, from the Green Party, together with a group of parliamentarians, in the Envi Commission (Commission for the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety), produced a motion to oppose the draft of the delegated act of the Commission (DEA 2021/2718) of 26 May, in an attempt to protect the use of the antibiotic in humans and, in his opinion, to limit antibiotic resistance. The motion for a resolution, which is to be submitted to Parliament for a vote in mid-September, proposes to include all WHO top priority antimicrobials (macrolides, fluoroquinolones and 3rd and 4th generation cephalosporins) as reserved for the treatment of patients only humans. These classes of antibiotics are used in veterinary medicine to treat respiratory problems, skin problems, gastric problems, peritonitis or severe soft tissue infections and more.
What is Antimicrobial Resistance
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the ability of a bacterium to resist the action of one or more antibiotics, which were previously able to effectively treat infections caused by its presence. It is a natural evolutionary mechanism: the genetic makeup of the bacterium changes to protect it from the action of the drug. The use of antibiotics in human and veterinary medicine favors the selection of resistant microorganisms, for this reason it is necessary to monitor their use.
According to Fnovi, the ban on the use of antibiotics would have dramatic effects on therapies for the treatment of animals: many bacterial infections can no longer be cured, with repercussions on their health and on the food safety of citizens. Animals, pets and livestock, contract infections that can only be treated with certain antibiotics. Without these treatments they are doomed to suffering and even death, an unimaginable scenario for all but even more so for those who sanctioned the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which in Article 13 recognizes animals as sentient beings and underlines the need to take full account of the needs related to their well-being.
“MEPs will have the possibility, through their vote against the Envi motion, to allow effective treatments for animals in the future – he says. Gaetano Penocchio, President Fnovi – The One Health approach, also recalled in the recent G20 of Health Ministers as a decisive concept for our health and well-being, must be strengthened and actually applied: antibiotics must be used rationally to maintain their effectiveness and to stem AMR, as guaranteed by the Regulation on veterinary drugs which will come into force next January and which will be the most stringent in the world “.
And then he adds: “Ignoring the importance of animal health and welfare, against all scientific evidence and all EU principles, will not bring any benefit to people’s health and will certainly cause unnecessary suffering to sick animals. AMR yes it contrasts with collaboration and sharing of good practices, with intellectual honesty and scientific knowledge “.
Not to mention that the report of three European agencies (Efsa, Ema and Ecdc) indicates a significant decline in the use of the antibiotic in veterinary medicine (over 30% and in some species of animals even over 70%), among other things now well traceable thanks to the use of the electronic prescription.
Fighting AMR
Antibiotic resistance (AMR) is a complex problem at a scientific level: microorganisms adapt easily and the resistance that is generated has a great diffusion capacity. However, all this slows down only with the involvement of human, animal and environmental reality together, it cannot be linked to the ban on the use of antibiotics for animals. The fight must be based on a scientific rationalization of their use and those that cannot be used in veterinary medicine must be identified through scientific data on which the Ameg Ema categorization is based.
There are many paths that can be followed in parallel to the scientific one to stem the phenomenon: already in 2006, with the EC regulation 1831/2003 on additives intended for animal nutrition, the ban on the use of antibiotics as growth promoters arrived. And if there were accurate controls on farms to avoid intensive ones, on the use – especially outside Europe – of antibiotics not to cure but to prevent diseases, if meat consumption was limited and the rules were followed, no animal would probably have to give up. the right to be treated, be it man, dog, horse, hen, pig, cow or others.
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