Targets to cut the use of antimicrobials in animal agriculture were dropped from a key United Nations (U.N.) political declaration following pushback from the agriculture and veterinary drug industry and meat-producing nations comprising the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The declaration is meant to commit countries to address surging resistance to antimicrobial medicines — a problem that kills nearly 1.3 million people globally in a single year, topping deaths from HIV and malaria combined.
On Sept. 26, global leaders will meet at the U.N. where they are expected to adopt the declaration. But without concrete targets, scientists, global leaders and politicians are concerned that governments won’t effectively address the problem.
In particular, they will fail to curb the use of antimicrobials in farm animals, which is spurring the development of resistance to critical medicines, they warn.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who is campaigning for improved control of antibiotics in food-producing animals in the U.S., said in a statement, “The massive overuse of antibiotics on factory farms in the United States is a serious threat to public health.”
“Federal agencies have a troubling history of deferring to corporate interests on this issue, and I am very concerned about any role that the United States played in weakening international commitments to reduce antibiotic use in farm animals,” he adds.
Hellbound and Down 