AMR in Animal Health: Issues and One Health Solutions for LMICs

Abstract

Antimicrobials are widely used in animal medicine. The quantity and type of antimicrobial to be used in livestock is related to species and production systems involved in animal rearing. The usage is always greater in industrial food animal production (IFAP) systems where antibiotics are cheap production tools to compensate for poor hygiene and high stocking densities in animal farms. Such conditions, coupled with poor regulatory compliance, can lead to the development of new superbugs. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an ongoing concern and potential health threat for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), who are going to bear the greatest burden due to many related issues such as sanitation, malnutrition, privatization of healthcare, and lack of regulations for animal antibiotic usage. The drivers of AMR especially at the human-animal-environment interface cannot be effectively addressed by one sector alone, and collaboration across all sectors and disciplines is a necessity. As AMR is a serious health emergency, national action plans (NAPs) are the starting point for the implementation of control strategies, which identify the relevant stakeholders, followed by the mapping of available infrastructure and the capabilities of these stakeholders to arrive at a One Health action plan for control of AMR.