OIE report indicates decreasing trend in antimicrobial use

The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) recently published its Fifth OIE Annual Report on Antimicrobial Agents Intended for Use in Animals.

The report provides details on the global use of antimicrobial agents adjusted for animal biomass for 2017 and interprets the overall findings of the annual data collection on the use of antimicrobial agents in animals, including global and regional analyses.

The trend from 2015 to 2017 on global antimicrobial use data is also included in the report. This new section presents the analysis of data from 69 countries on the global mg/kg intended for use and by antimicrobial classes. Globally, an overall decrease in antimicrobial quantities was observed with a 34% decrease of mg/kg from 2015 to 2017, indicating a positive trend over time in more prudent and responsible use of antimicrobials in the animal health sector.

The Fifth Report marks five years of close collaboration between the OIE and its Members and non-members to collect increasingly detailed data. A total of 160 countries provided data to the database, including 133 countries who provided quantitative data of increasingly detailed quality. The fifth year of data collection also marks the largest number of countries who were able to provide data using Reporting Option 3, which is the most detailed level of data on quantities of antimicrobial agents.

OIE says this progress demonstrates the continuously increased engagement from countries participating in the data collection, and capability to collect and measure national trends. Countries have improved their methodology for calculating antimicrobial quantities facilitated through an Excel Calculation Tool developed to overcome technical barriers. This progress contributes to the building of a robust OIE database on antimicrobial agents intended for use in animals.

The OIE is currently developing an interactive and automated IT system, which will provide countries with 24/7 access to review, analyse and use their national data, while allowing the OIE to meet its commitment to providing global data analyses to the public.

Report: World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) (2021). OIE Annual Report on Antimicrobial Agents Intended for Use in Animals. Better understanding of the global situation. Fifth annual report

[SOURCE: OIE]