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The amount of antibiotics used on farms in the QS program has fallen dramatically for almost all active ingredient groups and especially for critically important antibiotics.
Between 2014 and 2020, antibiotic use was reduced by 35.5%, meaning that the quantities of antibiotics used decreased by 251.3 tonnes, from 707.6 t to 456.3 t in 2020. With a reduction of 43%, the largest drop was achieved on pig farms (2014: 520.9 t, 2020: 296.9 t). On poultry farms, the reduction for this period was 19.4% (2014: 177.6 t, 2020: 143.2 t). There was also a slight decrease in fattening calves, which were included in the program in the second half of 2014 (2nd half of 2014: 8.98 t, 2nd half of 2020: 8.51 t).
However, assessments also show that the trend has slowed in recent years. While antibiotic use declined significantly between 2014 and 2017, the decline has been less since 2018 and the curve is flattening.
The reduction in antibiotic use is evident across all drug groups. Notably, the use of critically important antibiotics (third and fourth generation cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones) is low overall, but more than halved between 2014 and 2020 (third and fourth generation cephalosporins in 2014: 0.36 t, 2020: 0.17 t, fluoroquinolones in 2014: 7.31 t, 2020: 3.61 t). Therefore, critically important antibiotics were clearly chosen only as a last resort treatment option, reflecting the responsible use of antibiotics. In addition, the use of polypeptide antibiotics was reduced by 33.2%. This includes, for example, colistin, which the World Health Organization also has considered a "highest priority critically important antimicrobial" since 2017.
June 29, 2021/ QS/ Germany.
https://www.q-s.de/
