As part of a conference at BSAVA Congress 2024, the Responsible Use of Medicines Alliance – Companion and Equine (RUMA CA&E) has released the results of the second Antibiotic Amnesty.
The Antibiotic Amnesty ran through November 2023, and encouraged veterinary practices to talk to their clients about the importance of responsible antibiotic usage. Clients were asked to return any unused or outdated medications to their veterinary practice, where they would be disposed of safely.
This year’s amnesty recorded over 2,458 antibiotic tablets returned to participating practices. This is three times the amount that were returned in 2022.
Practices also received 160 oral antibiotic suspensions, 119 topical preparations containing antibiotics, and 11 antibiotic injections. This included critically important antibiotics, such as fluoroquinolones.
Antibiotic Amnesty 2023 saw 302 practices and veterinary organisations sign up for updates on the campaign – 70 per cent more than the previous year.
FIVP is a proud supporter of RUMA CA&E, and its inspirational work in preventing the threat that antimicrobial resistance has on One Health. We believe that veterinary teams have a vital role to play in informing their clients about responsible antibiotic usage.
Steve Howard, secretary general at RUMA CA&E, said: “We are delighted with the results of the 2023 Antibiotic Amnesty and the year-on-year uplifts in the level of returned of antibiotics, plus the increase in involvement and engagement we saw from right across the industry.”
Rita Dingwall, business development manager for FIVP, said: “This is fantastic news from RUMA CA&E, and I would like to congratulate them for running such a successful campaign. Thank-you also to FIVP members who got involved with this year’s amnesty
“However, antimicrobial resistance is a year-round threat. Please continue having informative discussions with your clients, and encouraging them to use antibiotics responsibly and return them safely.”
The full report can be found here.
