This UK Five Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy 2013 to 2018 is a cross-sectoral policy document. The overarching goal of the Strategy is to slow the development and spread of AMR. This ‘UK Five Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy 2013 to 2018’ sets out actions to address the key challenges to AMR. It focusses activities around 3 strategic aims: improve the knowledge and understanding of AMR; conserve and steward the effectiveness of existing treatments; stimulate the development of new antibiotics, diagnostics and novel therapies. The 7 key areas for future action are: 1) improving infection prevention and control practices; 2) optimising prescribing practice; 3) improving professional education, training and public engagement; 4) developing new drugs, treatments and diagnostics; 5) better access to and use of surveillance data; 6) better identification and prioritisation of AMR research needs; 7) strengthened international collaboration. In particular, livestock, food retail and veterinary Sectors are requested to take action to improve the knowledge and understanding of AMR and conserve and steward the effectiveness of existing treatments by following measures: embedding an appreciation of AMR issues and strategies for containing resistance in undergraduate courses; increasing access to relevant training for animal keepers; continuing to expand activities; facilitating development of sector-specific prescribing guidelines and promoting responsible use practices, including effective dissemination of guidance; improving adherence to responsible prescribing and responsible administration principles for antibiotics; encouraging animal keepers to work closely with their veterinary surgeons to prioritise diagnosis of disease in livestock and companion animals, and to encourage early use of appropriate diagnostic testing, in particular, bacterial culture and sensitivity tests; encouraging livestock farmers to adhere to government guidance on bio-security, animal husbandry and on farm health planning for each of the major farming sectors and to take proactive action to reduce the risk of disease occurring in their animals; considering the use of ‘farm assurance schemes’ as a mechanism to increase adherence to best husbandry including isolation of sick animals, testing of new stock and responsible use of antibiotic principles, while ensuring animal health and welfare; encouraging retailers to review their standards for meat and animal products and to set clear specifications, concerning bio-security, antimicrobial stewardship and good husbandry throughout the supply chain for overseas as well as nationally sourced UK meat and animal products, working with suppliers and veterinarians to ensure compliance; working collaboratively to strengthen the available evidence base, in particular through the collection and sharing of surveillance and usage data needed to benchmark current levels of resistance and antibiotic consumption and improve early warning systems at national and global levels; continuing to explore options for the collection and analysis of veterinary medicine prescription data, including the use of local audit; encouraging the research needed to gain a greater understanding of the impact of interventions intended to minimise development and spread of antibiotic resistance, etc.
Reino Unido de Gran Bretaña e Irlanda del Norte · 2013-09-01