All blog posts are the sole opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Keep Antibiotics Working or Food Animal Concerns Trust.
Most of us have had a hamburger or two under the golden arches.
But what many don’t know is that most beef in the U.S. is raised on the routine use of medically important antibiotics, a farming practice that’s reducing the effectiveness of our most foundational medicines.
Thanksgiving is just a week away, and it begs the question: will we still be thankful for antibiotics this time next year?
This week is the World Health Organization’s annual “World Antibiotics Awareness Week” raising global awareness of the antibiotic resistance crisis and encouraging action to preserve the efficacy of important medicines to fight life-threatening infections. 2017’s theme is “Seek advice from a qualified healthcare professional before taking antibiotics.”
As antibiotic resistance spreads worldwide, the calls get more urgent to stop squandering our most precious medicines, in both human medicine and in livestock. Released earlier this week are new recommendations from the World Health Organization—the leading international public health authority—on how the medically important antibiotics given to food animals can be used better. They’re especially timely, given that next week is Antibiotic Awareness Week.
In a more perfect world, the United States would rival trading partners like Denmark and the Netherlands in developing national policies to curtail animal antibiotic use. In reality, recent federal reforms have yet to yield reductions in use, and public health authorities continue to operate without the most rudimentary data on which drugs are going to which animals.
For the third year in a row, the Chain Reaction scorecard and report rates the top 25 U.S. restaurant chains on their commitments and actions to end antibiotics misuse in meat and poultry.
Last week, the Presidential Advisory Council on Antibiotic Resistance met for the seventh time. Given the fate of other presidential councils in recent months, the mere fact that the council continues to meet and maintains a working website should be recognized as a minor victory.
As the national (and global) crisis of antibiotic resistance worsens, it garners more attention. Deservedly so. "We are running out of antibiotics fast“ is how the “Stopping Superbugs" series PBS NewsHour began earlier this month. Without stronger, swifter action – my friends who are infectious disease docs warn – we’ll find ourselves living in a world where once routine infections are no longer treatable.
Over the last two weeks, millions of people got a peak under the hood of the antibiotic resistance crisis, courtesy of PBS Newshour’s reporting. Here, here, and here are three excellent Newshour segments.
Welcome to the new blog for the Keep Antibiotics Working (KAW) Coalition. We created this blog for KAW coalition members to provide information about the dangers of “superbugs” and share actions to stop their spread on farms nationwide.
Keep Antibiotics Working is staffed by Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT). Learn more at www.foodanimalconcernstrust.org.
