Action Needed to Avoid the End of Modern Medicine

This study influenced the development of the WHO’s new  guidelines, which are aimed at influencing policy makers in the agriculture and health sectors.   According to a WHO press release, the guidelines include:An overall reduction in the use of all classes of medically important antibiotics in food-producing animals.Complete restriction of these antibiotics for growth promotion and for disease prevention without diagnosis.Healthy animals should only receive antibiotics to prevent disease if it has been diagnosed in other animals in the same flock or herd or fish population.Antibiotics used in animals should be from the WHO list as “least important” to human health and not from “highest priority critically important.”In 2015, Health Ministers attending the World Health Assembly adopted a Global Plan of Action on anti-microbial resistance, and they agreed that each country should prepare national action plans by 2017.Since there are many sources of antibiotic resistance, the national effort must include not only the health authorities but also those responsible for agriculture and the environment.The health authorities should take action to control the spread of infections (including in hospitals), carry out surveillance of antibiotic resistance, introduce and implement regulations and guidelines on proper prescriptions, ethical marketing of drugs and rational drug use.The agriculture authorities should phase out inappropriate use of antibiotics for animals, espec...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Development & Aid Global Governance Headlines Health Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news