Schmidt: "Our antibiotic minimization concept works"
The total amount of antibiotics sold to veterinarians by pharmaceutical companies and wholesalers has halved since 2011 (minus 56,5 percent). The amount released for antibiotics of particular importance to humans is - depending on the active ingredient class - constant or continuing to decline compared to previous years. For fluoroquinolones, it is still higher than when it was first recorded in 2011 - but it has fallen compared to 2015.
Federal Minister of Agriculture Christian Schmidt declares on the publication of the figures:
"The development of the amount of antibiotics released shows that our antibiotic minimization concept is working. Despite considerable success, we are working on further minimizing the use of antibiotics. In particular, the use of so-called reserve antibiotics must become more restrictive. This will only succeed if veterinary and human medicine work closely together work. That is why we in Germany pursue the "One healthApproach "(human and veterinary medicine). We are also pursuing a reduction in the use of reserve antibiotics with the draft ordinance amending the ordinance on veterinary pharmacies. The aforementioned draft ordinance is currently being notified to the EU Commission Minimizing the use of antibiotics - that is also a central goal of the national farm animal husbandry strategy that I presented at the end of June 2017. By improving the health of farm animals, the use of antibiotics can also be further reduced, because preventing bacterial infections that require treatment is without question the best measure against antibiotic resistance.
We are also working on an international level to minimize the need for antibiotics. During the German G20 presidency, the G20 agriculture ministers agreed that the use of antibiotics should be limited to therapeutic purposes. This is a major step forward in international agricultural and health policy. "
