Launch of SLU-led FAO manual about reducing the use of antibiotics in livestock

Also present at the launch were Sweden's ambassadors to Italy, representatives from the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation, and FAO's Deputy Director General and Chief Veterinarian. The launch was a part of World Antibiotics Awareness Week 2019.

SLU was assigned to write the manual by FAO and the work has been led by professors Susanna Sternberg-Lewerin and Ulf Magnusson. They wrote the manual together with a working group of about ten international experts including Swedish expertise from the Swedish Board of Agriculture and the National Veterinary Institute.

"The manual is about how to reduce the use of antibiotics in livestock through disease prevention. We have focused on poultry and pig breeding since it is where most antibiotics are used globally”, says Professor Ulf Magnusson, who is in Rome to present the manual.

Photo: 19 November 2019, Rome Italy – From left: Dr. Behre G. Tekola, Director AGA, FAO, Professor Ulf Magnusson, SLU, Madame Maria Helena Semedo, Deputy Director-General FAO, and H.E. Robert Rydberg, Ambassador and permanent representative of Sweden to FAO. Addressing antimicrobial resistance: Prudent and Efficient use in pigs and poultry, (King Faisal Room), FAO Headquarters. World Antibiotic Awareness Week 2019.  Photo copyright: FAO/Alessandra Benedetti. 

The reason that SLU has been asked to lead the work on developing such a manual is because Sweden is a world leader in using small amounts of antibiotics and at the same time keep animals healthy and highly productive. The manual is not just about disease prevention but also about how to reduce antibiotic use through medically rational use. This includes for example not providing antibiotics for growth promotion, treat sick animals individually and avoid antibiotics that are critical important to human medicine. The manual is currently available in English only, but will be translated into all FAO official languages due to a growing interest. 

Download the manual here: http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/ca6729en