Samples taken in 2021 from healthy pigs and calves showed that resistance to antibiotics is stable or even decreasing,
Keystone / Nicola Pitaro
The amount of antibiotics sold for treatment of animals continued to fall last year, amid rising awareness of antibiotic resistance, according to the Swiss government.
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Over a ten-year period it has more than halved from 60,000kg of antibiotics to 28,000kg in 2021, the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) said on TuesdayExternal link. Last year the total quantity fell by about 2%, and that of critically important antibiotics by 7%.
Antibiotics are among the most important developments in medicine, allowing treatment of bacterial illnesses that were once fatal, the FSVO said. But inappropriate and excessive use has caused more and more bacteria to become resistant, with serious consequences for humans, animals, agriculture and the environment.
The FSVO says the continuing decline in antibiotic sales shows that “veterinarians and animal owners have developed high awareness of the problem”.
Samples taken in 2021 from healthy pigs and fattening calves showed that resistance is stable or even decreasing compared with 2019, according to the FSVO, which carries out regular analyses on animals.
Since 2019, vets have been required to declare why they prescribe antibiotics. In 2015 the Swiss government adopted a Strategy on Antibiotic Resistance (StAR) programme aimed at tackling the problem of antibiotic resistance in a coordinated way.
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