Experts on animal welfare have raised alarms over a potential increase in antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Antimicrobials are agents used to prevent infections, while AMR refers to the inability of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites to respond to antimicrobial medicines.
Experts are particularly worried about the heavy and unregulated use of antibiotics by farmers to treat, prevent, or control infections in animals. This practice, if left unchecked, could result in antibiotic resistance, increasing the risk of disease spread and deaths.
Dr. Patrick Muinde, the research manager at the World Animal Protection, highlighted that 75% of all antibiotics produced globally are used in the livestock production sector. Dr. Muinde warned that unless stakeholders in the food production sector advocate for the responsible use of antibiotics among farmers, the country could be heading towards a silent pandemic.
“Antibiotics are currently being used in poultry and pork production for the purposes of ensuring that the animals attain market weight faster. There are also cases where farmers have been known to administer antibiotics to their animals as a preventive measure without consulting veterinary doctors,” said Dr Muinde.
“When you do this you are giving bacteria or pathogens in those animals an opportunity to learn about the antibiotic and to start developing a mechanism to be resistant against the antibiotics. The moment you ingest that animal product, you introduce sub-doses of the antibiotics into your body. Since these small doses are not able to kill the bacteria, when you fall sick and medication is administered you don’t get better because your body has already developed drug resistance,” he added.
Dr. Muinde’s concerns are supported by findings from the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2023, which identified antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as one of the top global public health and development threats. According to WHO, AMR was directly responsible for 1.27 million deaths worldwide in 2019.
In releasing the advisory, WHO noted that AMR not only undermines the achievements of modern medicine but also poses a catastrophic threat to the global economy. This includes substantial increases in health expenditures.
The UN body projected that the total expenses for treating resistant bacterial infections alone could reach USD 412 billion annually by 2035.
