A new report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warns that the use of antibiotics in livestock could increase by nearly a third over the next 15 years if governments do not intervene. This trend threatens to exacerbate antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which already poses a significant risk to human health by rendering essential medicines ineffective.
Current situation and risks
Animal husbandry accounts for almost three-quarters of global antimicrobial use, yet in many countries, usage is poorly monitored. Some herds receive routine doses, and in numerous nations, antimicrobials are employed to boost growth in animals raised for meat. This practice is a leading cause of superbugs—bacteria resistant to multiple drugs—which could make routine surgeries like hip replacements life-threatening and cost an estimated $1 trillion globally by 2050.
AMR already costs Europe alone around €11 billion annually. Without concerted action, it is forecast to kill tens of millions of people. Recent successes have reduced the tonnage of antibiotics used in farming by about a third from its 2013 peak, but growing global demand for meat and lax regulation now threaten these gains.
FAO projections
The FAO report, published on Wednesday, projects that if current trends continue, more than 143,000 tonnes of antimicrobials will be administered to livestock each year by 2040. That would represent a 30% increase from 2019 levels and surpass the previous peak of 118,000–130,000 tonnes recorded in 2013.
However, the authors emphasize that this outcome is not inevitable. By teaching farmers and meat producers more efficient methods, the need for growth enhancers could be reduced, and disease prevention could become easier. Producers are currently caught in a vicious circle: higher antibiotic use leads to greater resistance, which in turn causes losses in livestock that could reach a cumulative $318 billion by 2040. In contrast, phasing out growth promoters would cost a maximum of $53 billion.
Calls for action
Cóilín Nunan, of the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics (ASOS), who was not involved in the FAO report, urged governments to act. “Phasing out the use of antibiotics for growth promotion, one of the worst misuses of antibiotics, will not be costless,” he said. “But [the FAO report] says that the economic impact associated with rising antibiotic resistance in livestock, including lower production and higher food prices, will be far higher and longer-lasting.”
The FAO argues that antibiotic effectiveness should be regarded as a global public good, and governments should prevent the overuse of key medicines. Nunan added: “The solution is better regulation of farm antibiotic use combined with policies aimed at minimising illness in farm animals. In our view, this means a move away from intensive, unhygienic and stress-inducing forms of livestock farming, towards more health-orientated farming systems where antibiotics are rarely needed.”
EU and UK standards
The use of antibiotics for growth promotion has been banned in the European Union and the United Kingdom since 2006, but some imports produced with such practices have continued. From September, the EU will ban the import of all meat, dairy, and eggs produced using antibiotics as growth promoters. Nunan said this is pressuring countries that use antibiotics irresponsibly to raise their standards, citing Brazil, which is toughening its rules.
ASOS has called on the UK to implement a similar ban. “Extending the EU’s ban on antibiotic growth promotion will help protect public health and shield farmers from unfair competition,” Nunan said. “The UK government needs to implement a similar ban, to protect its consumers and farmers. The new sanitary and phytosanitary agreement being negotiated between the UK and the EU provides an ideal opportunity for the UK to align with the EU on this and other important farm antibiotics standards.”
