Today there is an increased need for stewardship whenever antibiotics are used. The threat of a "post-antibiotic era" is rising as antibiotic resistance increases. As declared by the U.S. Government and World Health Organization among other national governments, this is a crisis that threatens national and global security.
Government regulations are calling for aggressive steps toward improved antibiotic use in the human and animal health sectors. However, there is no best practice in measuring success in these efforts. Antibiotics Stewardship: From Metrics to Management will facilitate a discussion between veterinarians, public health officials, the livestock industry, scientists and other interested parties to develop these metrics in order to keep agriculture moving forward successfully.
"The goal of this year is to bring people from animal agriculture, public/human health, etc. to talk about the issues of antibiotic resistance and the contribution animal agriculture makes to that," Dr. Brian Lubbers, Kansas State Vet Diagnostic Lab, said.
A discussion on the basics of developing and setting metrics is planned to start the symposium. All sectors dealing with antibiotics will be represented. The agricultural industry will have speakers representing poultry, swine, beef and the environment. The human health sector will also have representatives discussing In/Out-Patient antimicrobial resistance issues.
New this year will be the inclusion of the retailer’s perspective on building consumer trust. They will share what their concerns for antibiotics, in relation to food, are for the future.
"This basic introduction to what constitutes a good measure, from the standpoint of reliability, accuracy, dependability, reproducibility and other key criteria, will set the stage for breakout sessions on day one and day three during which symposium attendees will use that information to discuss what kind of metrics might be appropriate for stewardship in animal agriculture," said Dr. Steve Solomon, symposium moderator, consultant and Former Director of the Office of Antimicrobial Resistance at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The NIAA Antibiotics Symposium takes place November 3-5, 2015 in Atlanta, Ga. and is open to all individuals who want to learn from each other, engage in meaningful discussion and create successful strategies to safeguard antibiotic efficacy.