‘One Health 2018: A Joint Approach for Healthcare and Veterinary Professionals’ Conference took place in the Convention Centre, Dublin, yesterday (Tuesday, November 20).
The conference was jointly welcomed by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, and the Minister for Health, Simon Harris.
The conference aimed to underline Ireland’s continuing commitment to European Antibiotic Awareness Day and World Antibiotic Awareness Week.
Minister Creed highlighted that Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is: “Firstly a serious public health concern, but is also an animal health, welfare and environmental concern.”
Minister Creed said: “The key objectives of this One Health event are to gain a heightened awareness of AMR and to facilitate the knowledge transfer and exchange of best practice among healthcare and veterinary professionals in relation to use and management of antibiotics in human and animal health.”
The vital role that doctors and veterinary practitioners play in fighting AMR is critical in terms of their front line role in addressing healthcare associated infection in both humans and animals and disease prevention in animal stock and in their prudent use of antibiotics.
A ‘first’ for Ireland
Continuing, Minister Harris added: “The fact that this event is a first for Ireland – a One Health conference bringing together all those with a prescribing remit under the One Health umbrella is testament to the commitment of all these professionals; this committed engagement to work together across the One Health family is crucial to our task.”
Both ministers also acknowledged the collaborative effort of stakeholders in the development last year of Ireland’s National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance 2017-2020 – known as iNAP – to address the challenge of AMR.
The plan aims to ensure the development and implementation of multifaceted interventions which will safeguard against inappropriate prescribing, dispensing and consumption of medicines, while simultaneously promoting rational use in patients and animals that are expected to benefit from treatment.