Kuala Lumpur, 23 June 2008: IFAH presented a satellite symposium on animals’ need for medicines at the 13th International Congress on Infectious Diseases (ICID) held last week in Kuala Lumpur. Seeking to improve understanding by the human health sector of the rationale for contemporary antimicrobial use in animal health, IFAH brought insights into key areas in the antimicrobial use debate: responsible use in modern-day animal production systems and the importance of antimicrobial use to both animal and public health.

A presentation by Dr Ching Ching Wu of Perdue University, USA, emphasised the responsible use of antimicrobial products in animals as a means to preserve animal health, food safety and public health. Prof. Y.H. Park of Seoul National University, Korea, reviewed the transmission routes of antibiotic resistant bacteria between animals and humans.

“Just like humans, animals need medicines too and healthy animals contribute to public health and consumer safety,” reminded Dr. Peter Holdsworth, IFAH Board member and CEO of its Australian member association Animal Health Alliance, who opened the satellite symposium.

Through IFAH, the animal health industry is focussed on maximising the availability of high quality, safe and efficacious antimicrobials for the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases in animals. It is at the same time committed to ensuring the necessary measures are in place to minimise the opportunity for resistance development, and its potential transfer to man.

IFAH acknowledged the many outcomes of the multidisciplinary and co-ordinated approach taken by regulators and industry over the last two years to manage the risk of antimicrobial resistance. “The animal health industry has been and continues to be very proactive in minimising the threat of antibiotic resistance in animals and humans by fully implementing risk-management actions such as responsible use of veterinary medicines, and surveillance programmes”, added Dr. Holdsworth.

IFAH reconfirmed its support for government initiated surveillance and monitoring programmes to more closely define the risk associated with judicious use of antimicrobials in food animal production.

Ends

Note to Editors:

IFAH, the International Federation for Animal Health, is the organisation representing manufacturers of veterinary medicines, vaccines and other animal health products in both developed and developing countries across five continents.

Its goal is to promote a harmonised, science-based regulatory and trade framework, and marketplace environment that supports an animal health industry which is economically viable and innovation driven, contributing to a healthy and safe food supply as well as a high level of animal health and welfare.

For further information on IFAH, please visit http://www.ifahsec.org.
For more details on the 13th ICID Congress, please see http://www.isid.org/13th_icid/
For further information on the topic of this press release, please contact:

Hervé Marion
Rue Defacqz, 1 - B-1000 Brussels
Tel.: +32 (0)2 543 7572
Fax : +32 (0)2 5370049
E-mail: h.marion@ifahsec.org