Addis Ababa, 02 December 2019 - The Ethiopian Veterinary Drug and Feed Administration (VDFACA),  the United Kingdom’s Veterinary Medicines Directorate, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), collaborated to conduct a training workshop on Antimicrobial use, antimicrobials resistance (AMR), and food safety for around 70  animal health professionals from public and private institutions .  

The workshop was held from 27 – 28 November 2019 in Addis Ababa with the aim of creating awareness about the concepts of AMR and the threat it poses. It provided insights into the risks and modalities for preventing and combatting AMR within the context of Global AMR Strategy and Ethiopia’s AMR Prevention and Containment Strategy and AMR Surveillance Plan. The workshop participants discussed antibiotic use, administration, sales, disease prevention, and collaborative efforts to combat AMR in Ethiopia.

They underscored the need for multidisciplinary and multi-institution “One Health” approach to combat the growing AMR in the country, noting that there is apparent misuse of antimicrobials by health care providers, animal husbandry practitioners, and antimicrobials dispensers and end users.

In his keynote remarks, Mr. Paul Green, the Director of Operations at the United Kingdom’s Veterinary Medicines Directorate said success in the prevention and containment of AMR necessitates the involvement of human and animal health and the environment sectors to coordinate their efforts in an integrated manner.

“AMR is a problem, involving the Health of people, animal, plants and the environment and can therefore only be solved by a “One Health” approach.”, he said.

On his part, Dr. Terzu Daya, Director-General of VDFACA called upon the trainees to cascade the information and knowledge that they acquired at the workshop if the country was to achieve the ambitious target of combatting AMR by 2030.

“Please share this information and train more people so that we successfully combat the AMR threats, as indicated in the Ethiopian Strategy and National Action Plan,” he said.

Dr Terzu further warned that without AMR containment, the Sustainable Development Goals, such as ending poverty, ending hunger, ensuring healthy lives, reducing inequality, and revitalizing global partnerships are unlikely to be achieved.

Mr. Gijs van’t Klooster the Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) Team Leader at FAO Ethiopia said FAO would continue to support the government of Ethiopia and other stakeholders to prevent and slow down AMR.

“FAO is helping the government to improve awareness on AMR; update the strategy and action plan; develop capacity for AMR and antimicrobial surveillance and monitoring; strengthen governance and promote good practices as well as the prudent use of antimicrobials,” he said.

The Government of Ethiopia’s “Strategy for the Prevention and Containment of Antimicrobial Resistance” aims to prevent, slow down, and contain the spread of AMR through the continuous availability of safe, effective, and quality assured antimicrobials and their effective use.