The European Commission has asked European Medicines Agency (EMA) to provide advice on the impact of antibiotic use in animals on public health and animal health.
The request was made by the Commission as a part of it's 'Action Plan against the rising threats from Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)'.
Antibiotics allow doctors to treat bacterial diseases in humans and animals, and prevent infections. However, the use of antiobioics can lead to antimicrobial resistance, and this risk can increase through overuse and misuse in either human or veterinary practice.
Antimicrobial resistance is now recognized as a major health concern, and there is a need to ensure that antibiotics are appropriately used in both human and veterinary healthcare settings.
In order to address this problem, the Commission has asked the EMA to evaluate the impact of antibiotic use on animal and public health, and provide advice on the steps that can be taken to manage the possible risk to humans resulting from the use of antibiotics in animals.
The EMA's Committee for Medicinal Products for Veterinary Use (CVMP) will collaborate with the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) to provide advice, which is expected to provide a strong scientific basis to guide the decisions on antibiotic use in animals.
The EMA will set up a multidisciplinary working group featuring experts from the CVMP Antimicrobials Working Party and the CHMP Infectious Diseases Working Party. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) will also provide their input.
In addition, the group will seek additional expertise as required to address the range of questions to be answered, underlining the multi-sectorial approach to managing antimicrobial resistance. In addition, the team will take into account the views of stakeholders on relevant topics as part of the input to be considered when formulating its advice.
The advice will be provided in a step-wise approach, with the first outcome requested by June 2013 and finalisation expected for the end of 2014. The EMA noted that it will be providing regular updates on the progress of its work during the process.
