Eating Healthy - Challenge posed by SUPERBUGS
My area of interest is the use of antibiotics in animal farming.
What are the main benefits of using antibiotics in animal Farming?
They minimize the transmission of infections from animals to humans
They allow farmers to have more animals per square meter thereby reducing the cost of raising the animals, which means that consumers can buy their meat products at affordable prices.
What are the harms caused by the use of antibiotics in animal farming?
The constant addition of antibiotics to animal feeds and water causes pathogens to mutate and become resistant.
The resistant bacteria originating from animals when transmitted to humans can cause fatal infections because the antibiotics currently on the market are now ineffective against most superbugs.
How do we preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics?
Reducing the demand for antibiotics is the most effective way for doing so.
There are 7 billion people in the world and over 70 billion animals. Therefore, restricting the use of antibiotics in animal farming would have more impact.
However, it is not possible to farm without antibiotics in Intensive Factory Farming because of poor sanitary conditions that can lead to outbreaks of disease.
This means that the way forward is to get rid of Intensive Factory Farms.
The only sustainable way of farming is the one that provides better animal husbandry and the one that uses antibiotics in the treatment of sick animals only.
Remember not to demand antibiotics when they are not indicated e.g. for viral infections like colds
Once antibiotics are prescribed, finish the course
Never share your antibiotics
Reduce consumption of animal protein
Choose Free Range whenever possible
Spread the word and raise awareness
Remember not a single person will not be affected by Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). Do your bit.
