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Tackling antibiotic resistance from a food safety perspective in Europe

Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe , 2011. 65p.
ISBN: 978 92 890 1421 2

Available online at: http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/136454/e94889.pdf
Hardcopy available on loan at: SEARO Library

Antibiotics have revolutionized the treatment of infectious diseases. But their use and misuse have resulted in the development and spread of antibiotic resistance. This is now a significant health problem: each year in the European Union alone, over 25 000 people die from infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Antibiotic resistance is also a food safety problem: antibiotic use in food animals –for treatment, disease prevention or growth promotion – allows resistant bacteria and resistance genes to spread from food animals to humans through the food-chain.

This publication explores the options for prevention and containment of antibiotic resistance in the food-chain through national coordination and international cooperation, including the regulation and reduction of antibiotic use in food animals, training and capacity building, surveillance of resistance trends and antibiotic usage, promotion of knowledge and research, and advocacy and communication to raise awareness of the issues.

This publication is primarily intended for policy-makers and authorities working in the public health, agriculture, food production and veterinary sectors, and offers them ways to take a holistic, intersectoral, multifaceted approach to this growing problem.

Table of Contents

• Contributors

• Acknowledgements

• Acronyms

• Foreword

• Executive summary

• An important food safety problem

• Urgent need for action

• International cooperation to support national action

• Introduction – antibiotic resistance as a global threat

• Definitions

• Challenge for human health

• Why antibiotic resistance is increasing worldwide

• Tackling antibiotic resistance

• 1. Antibiotic resistance in relation to food safety

Antibiotic use in food production
Antibiotic resistance as a food safety problem

• 2. Tackling antibiotic resistance in relation to food safety

Regulatory framework for antibiotic use in food animals
Reduced need for and prudent use of antibiotics in animal husbandry
Surveillance
Advocacy and communication
Training and capacity building
Knowledge gaps and research needs

• 3. Conclusions and action points

Overall coordination
Regulation
Reduced need for and prudent use of antibiotics in animal husbandry
Surveillance
Advocacy and communication
Training and capacity building
Knowledge gaps and research needs

• References

• Annex 1. International partnerships on antibiotic resistance from a food safety perspective

• Annex 2. Relevant international standards and guidelines