Why does antimicrobial stewardship matter and who is responsible?

Now you have thought about what AMS means to you in step 1.3, David Tisdall will discuss why it matters and who is responsible for it, in this video.

His main ideas on why AMS is important are summarised below:

• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a true One Health problem, which can have a very real effect on human and animal health, and the environment.
• The main driver for AMR development is total antimicrobial use and good AMS will help reduce excessive and inappropriate prescribing.
• Resistant bacteria and the mechanisms of resistance are able to transfer between human and animal populations.
• Antimicrobial development has slowed, so there are no new classes available to treat resistant infections.
• Morbidity and mortality due to antimicrobial resistant bacteria is already a very serious problem in human healthcare and a growing one in veterinary medicine.
• Food security – how antimicrobial use can relate to efficacy of food production.
• It is a local and global issue, affecting everyone.

Who is responsible?

In a sense, everyone is responsible. From our choice in food sources, to our expectations of our GPs to provide us with antibiotics, to our own prescribing decisions; because it is a global problem, we all have to take ownership for our part in it.

However, vets have a unique and important responsibility, in their role as gatekeepers of antimicrobials in animal health. The only reason an antibiotic could be found on a farm, in an equine practice or with a small animal owner, is through vets. It is important to ensure we are prescribing responsibly, not just dispensing. This is part of good AMS. Over the rest of the course, you will explore ways to play your part in improving AMS within your local context to help tackle this global problem.

For further reading, please see the links in the see also and downloads sections. Use the comments section to discuss your views on where the responsibility for AMS lies. Why do you think what you do?

Please find a downloadable copy of the PowerPoint slides used in the video in the downloads section below.