Overall sales of veterinary antibiotics decreased by 53% between 2011 and 2022, according to a new report from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
The final report of the European Surveillance of Veterinary Antimicrobial Consumption (ESVAC): 2009 – 2023 shows that sales of veterinary antibiotics have reached the lowest level ever reported based on data from 25 countries.
The report states that this means there is a lower risk of bacteria becoming resistant in people and animals.
The EU Farm to Fork strategy aims to bring a 50% reduction in total sales of antimicrobials for farmed animals and aquaculture by 2030, compared with 2018 levels.
In 2022, the 27 EU member states have achieved just over half of the 50% reduction target set for the end of the decade.
The EMA said this proves that countries are on the right track of meeting the goals of the strategy.
EMA
The EMA has been monitoring sales of veterinary antimicrobials in Europe through the ESVAC project since 2009.
Initially, nine European countries volunteered to provide data on sales of veterinary antimicrobials.
The number of participating countries increased more than three-fold since the start. In 2022, 31 European countries were working together in this project.
The report shows that between 2011 and 2022 sales of antibiotic classes that are considered critically important in human medicine for veterinary use noticeably decreased.
Sales of third- and fourth- generation cephalosporins dropped by 49%, polymyxins by 81%, fluoroquinolones by 25% and sales of other quinolones dropped by 90%.
The EMA noted that while all antibiotics should be used responsibly to preserve their effectiveness, it is of particular importance for these antibiotics to mitigate the potential risk to public health.
The report shows that the highest selling antibiotic class in 2022 for 31 countries consisted of penicillins, accounting for 32.7% of overall sales.
The data shows that while sales of oral solutions have increased over the years, sales of all other product forms – oral powders, premixes, injectables, intrauterine, intramammary and boluses – have declined.
Sales of product forms mainly used for group treatment have undergone a higher decrease (56.3%) than those product forms predominantly used for individual treatment (14.3%) between 2011 and 2022.
“The collection of data on sales of veterinary antimicrobials has been critical in shaping policy initiatives, assessing the impact of current measures and setting objectives that assist in tackling the emergence of antimicrobial resistance,” Ivo Claassen, head of EMA’s veterinary medicines division, said.
From January 2024, all EU member states must report their data on the volume of sales and use of antimicrobial medicinal products in animals.
Ireland
The EMA report shows there has been a 27.4% reduction in overall annual sales of veterinary antibiotics in Ireland for food-producing animals since 2011.
In 2022, overall sales of veterinary antibiotics in Ireland decreased by 20.7% when compared to 2021.
The three highest selling antibiotic classes were tetracyclines, penicillins and sulfonamides, which accounted for 36.2%, 26% and 15.8% of total sales, respectively.
Ireland’s second ‘One health’ national action plan on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which covers the period 2021–2025 (iNAP2) is aiming to build on the first action plan which ran from 2017 to 2020.
Along with education and awareness on AMR, promoting better animal health and biosecurity, the EMA notes the introduction of the electronic National Veterinary Prescription System (NVPS) will provide valuable information on the use of veterinary medicines.
The EMA notes that following an increase in sales of antimicrobials reported in 2020, there was a 9.7% reduction in overall sales in 2021.
Antibiotic veterinary medicinal products sales continue to decrease, reaching Ireland’s lowest values ever recorded in 2022, the report said.
This decrease was mainly driven by lower sales of premix products, while there were smaller declines in injectables, oral powders and intramammary dry cow treatments.