TY - JOUR
T1 - Antimicrobials in animal agriculture
T2 - Parables and policy
AU - Scott, H. M.
AU - Midgley, G.
AU - Loneragan, G. H.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.
Copyright:
Copyright 2015 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2015/4/1
Y1 - 2015/4/1
N2 - In addition to the scientific, economic, regulatory and other policy factors that impact on antimicrobial decision-making in different jurisdictions around the world, there exist ethical, social and cultural bases for the contemporary use of these products in animal agriculture. Thus, the use of the word 'parable' to describe the contemporary moral stories that help to guide ethical antimicrobial use practices and broader policy decisions in animal agriculture is appropriate. Several of these stories reflect difficult decisions that arise from conflicting moral imperatives (i.e. both towards animal welfare and towards human health). Understanding the factors that combine to define the past and present paradigms of antimicrobial usage is crucial to mapping a path forward. There exist barriers, as well as opportunities, for advancing scenarios for reducing antimicrobial usage under a variety of voluntary, regulatory and legal policy frameworks. Any new approaches will ideally be structured to extend the use of present-day antimicrobials into the future, to provide novel alternatives for regulating any newly introduced antimicrobial products so as to maximize their useful life span and to ensure the optimal use of these products in animal agriculture to protect not only the health of animals and the interests of animal health/agriculture stakeholders, but also the human health and the interests of the public at large. A full range of policy approaches, which span the realm from strictly enforced regulations and laws to voluntary guidelines and compliance, should be explored with respect to their risks and benefits in a variety of worldwide settings and in full consideration of a range of stakeholder values.
AB - In addition to the scientific, economic, regulatory and other policy factors that impact on antimicrobial decision-making in different jurisdictions around the world, there exist ethical, social and cultural bases for the contemporary use of these products in animal agriculture. Thus, the use of the word 'parable' to describe the contemporary moral stories that help to guide ethical antimicrobial use practices and broader policy decisions in animal agriculture is appropriate. Several of these stories reflect difficult decisions that arise from conflicting moral imperatives (i.e. both towards animal welfare and towards human health). Understanding the factors that combine to define the past and present paradigms of antimicrobial usage is crucial to mapping a path forward. There exist barriers, as well as opportunities, for advancing scenarios for reducing antimicrobial usage under a variety of voluntary, regulatory and legal policy frameworks. Any new approaches will ideally be structured to extend the use of present-day antimicrobials into the future, to provide novel alternatives for regulating any newly introduced antimicrobial products so as to maximize their useful life span and to ensure the optimal use of these products in animal agriculture to protect not only the health of animals and the interests of animal health/agriculture stakeholders, but also the human health and the interests of the public at large. A full range of policy approaches, which span the realm from strictly enforced regulations and laws to voluntary guidelines and compliance, should be explored with respect to their risks and benefits in a variety of worldwide settings and in full consideration of a range of stakeholder values.
KW - Antimicrobial resistance
KW - Ethical practice
KW - Moral imperative
KW - Policy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84928175593&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/zph.12191
DO - 10.1111/zph.12191
M3 - Article
C2 - 25903491
AN - SCOPUS:84928175593
VL - 62
SP - 3
EP - 9
JO - Zoonoses and Public Health
JF - Zoonoses and Public Health
SN - 1863-1959
IS - s1
ER -