20 May Antibiotic Crisis
We are being warned that by 2050, 1 person will die every 3 seconds due to antibiotic resistance unless governments take action now and the widespread use of antibiotics in animal agriculture will be key to preventing this. These warnings come in a report by the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance
, a project initiated in 2014 by David Cameron, backed by the charity the Wellcome Trust, and headed by Lord Jim O’Neill.
Currently, farmers routinely use antibiotics to promote growth or as a preventative measure for illnesses which are inevitable when animals are kept in the poor, overcrowded conditions of factory farming. In the US, 80% of antibiotic use is for animals. The report proposes national targets on the use of antibiotics in farming and a ban on using drugs of final resort, preserving them for human medical care. There is also the suggestion that antibiotic usage should appear on food labelling to allow consumers to become more aware.
We don’t need to eat animals. We don’t need to keep them in poor, factory farming conditions. By becoming vegetarian, or even better, vegan, consumers can make huge strides in helping the health of people and the well-being of animals.
The reports other recommendations are investment into developing new antibiotics and faster testing to ensure antibiotics are only prescribed for bacterial infections.
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