Crispin Blunt – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Crispin Blunt on 2015-12-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will raise the issue of withdrawal of marketing authorisations for veterinary use of colistin at the next EU Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council on 7 December 2015.
Jane Ellison
The withdrawal of marketing authorisations for veterinary use of colistin was not raised at the EU Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council on 7 December 2015.
The Public Health Minister has regularly discussed antimicrobial resistance (AMR) with her international colleagues and attended a meeting on AMR hosted by the Netherlands in advance of their forthcoming Presidency where the Minister raised the importance of a ‘One Health’ approach to AMR including the need for the appropriate use of antibiotics in both humans and animals.
The five year UK Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy, published in 2013 takes a ‘One Health’ approach.
Minimising the unnecessary and inappropriate use of antibiotics reduces the selective pressure that favours the emergence and spread of resistant bacteria and is an essential component of strategies to safeguard antibiotics critical for treatment of serious human infections.
PHE is working closely with Defra, Department of Health, the Animal and Plant Health Agency, Food Standards Agency and Veterinary Medicines Directorate to ensure the latest evidence on colistin resistance is considered.
AMR is a global problem that needs concerted action at both a national and global level.
