The antibiotic Colistin will be discontinued for animal health use, announced the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue.
The Minister said that the Animal Health Implementation Committee – under Ireland’s National Action Plan for Antimicrobial Resistance (iNAP) – has endorsed a statement of intent to cease the use of Colistin in the animal health sector.
“This voluntary agreement by stakeholders is testimony to the commitment of the agri-sector in addressing AMR (antimicrobial resistance) and I acknowledge the importance of Colistin in treating life-threatening bacterial infections that cause significant mortality and morbidity in human healthcare,” the minister said.
Minister McConalogue emphasised that the agreement underlines the commitment to address concerns in relation to responsible use of antimicrobials in animals. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has included Colistin in a list of Highest Priority Critically Important Antimicrobials.
The Minister said the decision to withdraw the use of Colistin to treat animals was timely with the EU Veterinary Medicines and Medicated Feed Regulations due to come into effect in January 2022.
“These new Regulations place key emphasis on addressing antimicrobial resistance. The clear shift at European level is to drive cultural change in using medicines only when necessary and focus on preventative measures.
“This aligns with Ireland’s National Farmed Animal Health Strategy with one of the key principles being ‘Prevention is Better than Cure’. AMR remains a challenge not just for human health, but also animal health, food security and our shared environment,” added the Minister.
LSL News.