Sales of antibiotics used in animals and plants down for sixth year in a row

Total sales of veterinary and horticultural antibiotics in New Zealand are down for a sixth year running, and sales of antibiotics considered critical for human health almost halved in the past year.

"Antibiotics are essential for the treatment of bacterial infections in humans, animals, and plants. But they need to be used responsibly to prevent antimicrobial resistance (AMR)," says New Zealand Food Safety acting deputy-director general Jenny Bishop.

"AMR is what happens when germs develop the ability to resist the medicines designed to kill them.

"The World Health Organization has identified AMR as one of the top 10 global health threats facing humanity. So, it's vital we ensure our current antibiotics can continue to be used.

"These results, released today in our latest Antibiotic Agricultural Compound Sales Analysis, are a clear sign that antibiotics are being more carefully used, which is great news for human and animal health.

Antibiotic Agricultural Compound Sales Analysis [PDF, 1 MB]

"They are a direct result of the concerted effort by veterinarians, farmers, industry and New Zealand Food Safety to ensure these life-saving medicines are used appropriately so they stay effective."

The latest report evaluates 15 classes of antibiotics sold during 2023 for use for farm animals, pets, and horticulture. We use this sales data as a proxy for measuring use.

Antibiotics sold for animal use were distributed among 24 million sheep, 10 million cattle, 124 million poultry, 600,000 pigs, 148,000 horses, 2 million household pets, and many other species.

The report shows that sales for the 5 classes of antibiotics considered critical for human health decreased by 46% to 3,416kg from 6,285kg in 2022. Total sales decreased for a sixth year in a row, dropping 3.6% from 41,033kg in 2022.

"Since a 2017 peak of 71,361kg, total antibiotic sales have dropped to 39,549kg in 2023. That's an impressive 45% decrease," says Ms Bishop.

"Apart from tracking sales for the valuable insights they provide, New Zealand Food Safety is doing other important work to help decrease AMR.

"We're currently reviewing our regulatory oversight of antibiotics used in plants and animals. This could lead to a further reduction in antibiotic use, as controls for some antibiotics might be tightened.

"This extensive piece of work, which involves reassessing hundreds of antibiotic products, has been divided into 4 tranches. Tranche one has been completed and tranche two is underway."

Summary Report: Tranche One Changes to Cephalosporin, Macrolide, and Penicillin-Based Veterinary Medicines Post-Reassessment [PDF, 462 KB]

"We also work closely with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and international regulators in an effort to manage AMR," says Ms Bishop.

"In 2017, the New Zealand Antimicrobial Resistance Action Plan was jointly developed by MoH, New Zealand Food Safety and representatives from across the human health, animal health and agriculture sectors.

"And just this month, we published our own New Zealand Plant and Animal Sectors' AMR Implementation Plan to underpin the national initiative.

New Zealand Plant and Animal Sectors' AMR Implementation Plan [PDF, 552 KB]

"Our plan includes activities to mitigate AMR, the expected outcomes of each activity, the organisation responsible for each activity, and the activities' deliverables and timeframes.

"We're all in this together, so New Zealand Food Safety will keep pushing to curb antimicrobial resistance," says Ms Bishop.

Controlling and preventing antimicrobial resistance

New Zealand Antimicrobial Resistance Action Plan - Ministry of Health

For further information and general enquiries, call MPI on 0800 00 83 33 or email [email protected]

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