Article 6: Keep Antibiotics Working

Article # 6

Title: Keep Antibiotics Working: The campaign to end antibiotic overuse

 

Link http://www.keepantibioticsworking.com/

Aim of Intervention:  

Principles of Campaign:

1.      Support efforts to curb the growing public health threat of antibiotic resistance by reducing the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in both agriculture and human medicine.

2.      Support a ban on the use in healthy farm animals of antibiotics used in human medicine or closely related to human drugs.

3.      Support efforts to promote sustainable agricultural production methods that provide alternatives to the use of antibiotics in healthy farm animals.

4.      Urge companies involved in the production and marketing of meat, poultry and fish (livestock producers, supermarkets, restaurants, etc.) to voluntarily agree to stop using, buying, or selling products produced with using antibiotics other than for the purpose of treating sick animals.

5.      Support efforts to educate patients and doctors about the prudent use of antibiotics, including the importance of prescribing them only for bacterial infections and of taking the entire course of the drug.

6.      Support the creation of a nationwide system to collect objective, verifiable data on the production and use of antibiotics in both human medicine and animal agriculture, and to make that information available to the public.

7.      Affirm the importance of ongoing collection of data at the state and federal levels on antibiotic residues and antibiotic resistance, including antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria both on food and in surface and ground waters.

Target Population: American population with areas of focus on human medicine and animal agriculture.

Target Place: USA

Time Period:  2013 till date

Intervention Tool(s): Activist groups, letter-writing, statements, lobbying

Technology: Active website for reference on campaign update

Results:  Unclear

Costs: Website Maintenance, others undeclared

Personal Reflection: Requires initiative and perseverance from participants in activist group, active lobbying on influential politicians and persons, insufficient funding could lead to discouragement. Possible outlook leans towards slow changes, outreach not far due to limited funding and hence limited support, more of a peer-political party approach.