The Minister for Agriculture in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue T.D., has welcomed the announcement that members of the iNAP Animal Health Implementation Committee (AHIC) have endorsed a statement of intent to cease the use of Colistin in the animal health sector in Ireland. This broad stakeholder representative committee is playing a key role in delivering the actions contained in Ireland’s national action plan, (iNAP) to address antimicrobial resistance (AMR) both in the animal health sector and in our shared environment.
The Minister said “this voluntary agreement by stakeholders is testimony to the commitment of the agri-sector in addressing AMR, and I acknowledges the importance of colistin, in treating life-threatening bacterial infections that cause significant mortality and morbidity in human healthcare.”
He emphasised that the agreement underlines the commitment and leadership shown within the agri- food sector to address societal concerns in relation to responsible use of antimicrobials in animals. The World Health Organisation has included colistin in a list of Highest Priority Critically Important Antimicrobials.
The Minister welcomed the timely announcement of this statement of intent as the forthcoming new Veterinary Medicines and Medicated Feed Regulations are due to come into effect in January 2022. He remarked that, “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 more 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.”
The Minister acknowledged that all stakeholders have an important role in addressing this One Health issue, and as part of today’s announcement he particularly wanted to thank the collaboration and leadership shown by Veterinary Ireland and the Irish Farmers Association.
The Minister stated that, “By veterinary practitioners and farmers working together to improve animal health and ceasing to use colistin, this proactive approach will protect the effectiveness of this antimicrobial of last resort in human health.”
The Minister referenced that whilst disease prevention must be the primary goal, antimicrobials are essential medicines for human and animal health and welfare, and that development and spread of resistance is influenced by the usage of antimicrobials in both human and animals. He emphasised the importance of continued engagement of stakeholders to address AMR across the human health, animal health, and environment sectors at a One Health level. He commended the collective actions taken, under Ireland’s national action plan to address AMR (iNAP).
The Minister concluded by stating that “in order to successfully address AMR the primary goal of the agri-food sector must be to continuously work on achieving and maintaining the highest possible standards in animal health and thus reducing antimicrobial usage. I welcome this measure adopted by the AHIC and I look forward to launching the next iteration of iNAP later this year and building on the progress achieved so far as we work in partnership, understanding that we all have a role to play in ensuring effective disease treatments for ourselves, our families , our communities and our animals.“
Notes for Editors:
What is AMR?
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is resistance of a microorganism to a drug that was originally effective for treatment of infections caused by that microorganism. Resistant microorganisms (including bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites) are able to withstand attack by antimicrobial drugs, such as antibacterial drugs (e.g., antibiotics), antifungals, antivirals, and antimalarials, so that standard treatments become ineffective and infections persist, increasing the risk of spread to others.
Antibiotic resistance refers specifically to the resistance to antibiotics that occurs in common bacteria that cause infections. Antimicrobial resistance is a broader term, encompassing resistance to drugs to treat infections caused by other microbes as well. Antimicrobial resistance in this Code of Good Practice specifically refers to antibiotic resistance whereby an antibiotic is no longer effective to treat bacterial disease.
What is the effect of AMR?
A European Centre for Disease Control/European Medicines Agency (ECDC/EMEA) 2009 Report estimated that in 2007 drug-resistant bacteria were responsible for about 25,000 human deaths per annum in the EU alone, with associated healthcare costs and productivity losses of €1.5bn. The Report also stated that approx. 4 million patients are estimated to acquire a healthcare associated infection in the EU every year. (ECDC JOINT TECHNICAL REPORT 'The Bacterial Challenge: time to react' (2009)).
What does ‘One Health’ mean?
The 'One Health' concept is a worldwide strategy for expanding interdisciplinary collaborations and communications in all aspects of health care for humans, animals and the environment. Recognising that human health, animal health and ecosystem health are inextricably linked, ‘One Health’ seeks to promote, improve and defend the health and well-being of all species by enhancing cooperation and collaboration between physicians, veterinarians, other scientific health and environmental professionals and by promoting strengths in leadership and management to achieve these goals.
There is international consensus through the ‘One Health’ Initiative to which the WHO (World Health Organisation), FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) and the OIE (World Health Organisation for Animal Health) are signatories, that tackling the global public health threat of AMR requires action across human and animal health sectors, agriculture and the wider environment.
At a national level the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and the Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) of the Department of Health and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, respectively, established the National Interdepartmental Antimicrobial Resistance Consultative Committee in 2014 as part of the ‘One Health‘ initiative, and to advance a holistic national approach in working together to ensure that effective antibiotics remain available into the future.
What is a HP-CIA?
The World Health Organisation has developed a list of antimicrobials that ranks them in order of importance to protect human health. At the top of the list are the group of antimicrobials considered as most critical to human health and these are referred to as Highest Priority Critically Important Antimicrobials. These are drugs of last resort in human health care so this means that if no other antimicrobial is effective to treat bacterial disease that these are the last line of treatment available to physicians to use in their patients.
What is iNAP?
iNAP is Ireland's response to international calls to produce a multisectoral action plan to tackle AMR. Ireland is fully committed to and engaged in addressing resolution of the problem of AMR. We will continue to collaborate at international, EU and national levels to this end.
Ireland’s National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance 2017 – 2020 is available at
gov.ie - Ireland's National Action Plan for Antimicrobial Resistance 2017-2020 (iNAP) (www.gov.ie)
The Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine jointly developed and launched Ireland’s first ‘One Health’ National Action plan to address antimicrobial resistance, (iNAP) in conjunction with the Department of Health in 2017 and is currently working on a second action plan to commence mid 2021. The two Departments have adopted a ‘One Health’ approach to AMR and encourage multidisciplinary collaborative efforts across different sectors such as health, agriculture and the environment to achieve the best health outcomes for people and animals.