BRUSSELS (AP) – Celebrities, politicians and organizations are calling for antibiotics that are especially important to people to ban industrial animal husbandry.
It stems from a message on Thursday on the occasion of European Antibiotic Day, which is supported by Dr Eckert von Hirschhausen, Green politician and television chef Sarah Wiener, as well as Greenpeace, Germanwatch, German environmental organizations. Federal Association of Aid and Consumers.
Its purpose is to inhibit the development of resistant pathogens. So-called reserve antibiotics are usually used for infectious diseases when the usual antibiotics no longer work. These should be used as rarely as possible so as not to jeopardize their effectiveness through developing resistance. The more antibiotics are used, the more resistant pathogen subtypes will prevail. According to the European Union Commission, 33,000 people die each year in the EU because antibiotics no longer work for them.
“Above all, the problem of antibiotic resistance must be solved politically,” insists SPD politician Timo Volken, who also supports the appeal. More recently, the Greens in the European Parliament failed to implement stringent regulations for antibiotic treatment of animals. The proposals sparked protests at the Association of Practicing Veterinarians, which launched a signature campaign against the plans.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 211117-99-37031/2
