Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the UK's progress in reducing the human consumption of veterinary antimicrobials; how this progress compares with that of other European countries; and whether the collection of data at farm level is adequate.

The Government is committed to reducing unnecessary use of antibiotics in animals. Over the last five years (2014-18) our approach has seen a 53% decrease in antibiotic sales for farmed animals, including a drop of two thirds in those antibiotics most critically important for human health, and in 2017 the UK had the fifth lowest level of antibiotic consumption in food-producing animals of the 31 European countries reporting these data. This has been achieved through working collaboratively with vets and farmers, most notably through the Targets Task Force chaired by the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance to implement the goals of the UK National Action Plan, recognising that good farm management, biosecurity, and animal husbandry systems are crucial to minimise the occurrence of disease and therefore the need for antibiotics.

The UK’s sales and surveillance data is published in our annual Veterinary Annual Sales and Surveillance report and presents antibiotic usage data from ten sectors including the pig, poultry and fish industries. This data is collected on a voluntary basis by the livestock sectors and shared with the Veterinary Medicines Directorate; this demonstrates a strong willingness to share data openly and UK farming sectors are continuing to refine and develop new systems for collecting, and reporting on, antibiotic usage.

Data on human consumption of antimicrobials is monitored and published annually by Public Health England in its English Surveillance Programme for Antimicrobial Utilisation and Resistance[1] report.

[1] The English Surveillance Programme for Antimicrobial Utilisation and Resistance (ESPAUR), run by Public Health England, develops and maintains robust surveillance systems for monitoring and reporting trends in antimicrobial use and to develop systems to optimise antimicrobial prescribing across healthcare settings. The ESPAUR report 2018 to 2019 can be viewed here:

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/843129/English_Surveillance_Programme_for_Antimicrobial_Utilisation_and_Resistance_2019.pdf.