WHO guidelines on use of medically important antimicrobials in food-producing animals: policy brief
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World Health Organization
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10 p.
This policy brief summarizes the rationale, evidence base and key recommendations of the WHO Guidelines on use of medically important antimicrobials in food-producing animals, highlighting the role of antimicrobial use in livestock production in the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance and its implications for human health. Developed in support of the WHO Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance, the brief explains why reducing unnecessary antimicrobial use in food-producing animals is essential to preserving the effectiveness of medically important antimicrobials, particularly those classified as critically important for human medicine. It outlines the scientific basis and guideline development process underpinning the recommendations and places them within the broader One Health framework for addressing antimicrobial resistance. The document presents the four principal recommendations, including reducing overall antimicrobial use, prohibiting their use for growth promotion and for disease prevention in the absence of clinical diagnosis, and restricting the use of critically important antimicrobials for disease control and treatment, together with two best practice statements concerning new antimicrobial classes and antimicrobials not currently used in food production. It also discusses implementation considerations, emphasizing improved animal health management, biosecurity, surveillance, laboratory capacity and veterinary oversight, and notes that the recommendations are intended for global application and will be reviewed as new evidence becomes available.
This policy brief summarizes the rationale, evidence base and key recommendations of the WHO Guidelines on use of medically important antimicrobials in food-producing animals, highlighting the role of antimicrobial use in livestock production in the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance and its implications for human health. Developed in support of the WHO Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance, the brief explains why reducing unnecessary antimicrobial use in food-producing animals is essential to preserving the effectiveness of medically important antimicrobials, particularly those classified as critically important for human medicine. It outlines the scientific basis and guideline development process underpinning the recommendations and places them within the broader One Health framework for addressing antimicrobial resistance. The document presents the four principal recommendations, including reducing overall antimicrobial use, prohibiting their use for growth promotion and for disease prevention in the absence of clinical diagnosis, and restricting the use of critically important antimicrobials for disease control and treatment, together with two best practice statements concerning new antimicrobial classes and antimicrobials not currently used in food production. It also discusses implementation considerations, emphasizing improved animal health management, biosecurity, surveillance, laboratory capacity and veterinary oversight, and notes that the recommendations are intended for global application and will be reviewed as new evidence becomes available.