Antibiotic sales will drop significantly in 2021
The total amount of antibiotics given to veterinarians has decreased by 100 tons compared to the previous year. The amount of antibiotics dispensed in veterinary medicine in Germany fell significantly in 2021. This is reported by the Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) in its annual evaluation. The delivery volume fell by 100 tons to 601 tons (minus 14,3 percent) compared to the previous year. If you look at the period since the start of recording, in 2011, the amount of antibiotics dispensed has fallen by 65 percent.
It is particularly gratifying that the quantities of fluoroquinolones, 3rd and 4th generation cephalosporins and colistin, which are critical for human therapy, dropped to their lowest values since 2011. In numbers:
- The amount of fluoroquinolones sold fell by around 0,8 tons to 5,6 tons compared to the previous year, which corresponds to a reduction of around 13 percent;
- that of the 3rd and 4th generation cephalosporins to 1,2 tons (minus 0,098 tons or minus 7,7 percent).
- For polypeptide antibiotics (this is mainly colistin), the sales volume has also fallen (total volume in 2021 around 51,3 tons, minus 8,8 tons or minus 15 percent compared to the previous year).
The State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), Silvia Bender, explains: "The current figures are an incentive for us to permanently reduce the use of antibiotics. The decline in the quantities sold for the so-called reserve antibiotics is particularly welcome. In July, The Federal Cabinet passed the amendment to the Veterinary Drugs Act presented by Federal Minister Cem Özdemir. We are thus sharpening the currently applicable antibiotic minimization concept. For example, a weighting factor is included in the antibiotic minimization concept for colistin, fluoroquinolones and cephalosporins of the 3rd and 4th generation This sends a signal to veterinarians and animal owners to reduce the use of these critical antibiotics to the unavoidable minimum."
As in previous years, penicillins and tetracyclines account for the majority of the antibiotics sold. Compared to the previous year, there was a reduction of around 43 tons (penicillins) and around 23 tons (tetracyclines) in these classes of active substances compared to the previous year. In the case of sulfonamides, the decrease compared to the previous year is 1,7 tons.
The development and spread of antibiotic resistance represents a global threat in both human and veterinary medicine. In order to counteract the spread of antibiotic resistance ("silent pandemic"), national and European regulations are urgently needed in view of the cross-border problem. The BMEL is therefore currently working at EU level to ensure that outstanding regulations in European veterinary medicinal product legislation are introduced as quickly as possible, which provide for further Europe-wide restrictions on the use of antibiotics in animals.
Further information
Since 2011, pharmaceutical companies and wholesalers have been legally obliged to report the quantities of antibiotics that are sold to veterinarians in Germany every year - directly to the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL).
The total quantity dispensed cannot be assigned to individual animal species, since the majority of the veterinary medicinal products in question are authorized for several animal species. One reason for the lower sales volume could be the decline in the number of animals in agricultural animal husbandry, particularly pigs.
