References
Are you ready for the Medicine Hub challenge?
Abstract
Over 90% of antibiotic use data is now captured within UK poultry, pig and aquaculture sectors. While dairy, beef and sheep lag behind, a new database promises to change this. So how – and why – should veterinary surgeons engage with the new Medicine Hub?
UK farming's robust response to the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis has halved antibiotic use and produced some of the lowest sales in Europe. The e-Medicine Book for Pigs, launched by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) in 2016, and now capturing antibiotic use for 95% of UK pig production, has been a success story demonstrating the pig industry's contribution to this (AHDB, n.d.).
In the hope this success can be emulated in the larger and more diverse sectors of dairy, beef and sheep, the Medicine Hub — also developed by AHDB — has been ‘open for data’ since early 2021.
The importance of being able to collate national-level data cannot be overstated. Dairy, beef and sheep are the only sectors currently unable to report national usage in the Veterinary Medicine Directorate's annual Veterinary Antimicrobial Resistance and Sales Surveillance (VARSS) report (Veterinary Medicines Directorate, 2021). While the challenge is understandable given the scale, producer numbers and complexity in these sectors, failure to act risks reputation and trade — especially as pending EU regulations will require national-level anti-biotic data by species in coming years.
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