FAO China ECTAD Highlights

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONSFAO Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD)

©FAO, 2017

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April, 2017vol. 99

FAO China ECTAD attendance at the 11th Annual Regional ECTAD Meeting (AREM) in Chiang Mai

The 11th Annual Regional Meeting for Emergency Center for Transboundary Animal Diseases Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (AREM) was held in Chiang Mai, Thailand from 5 to 7 April 2017. Around 60 participants from nine Emergency Center for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) country offices, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP) as well as headquarters (HQs) participated in this meeting. Mr Tang Hao, Mr Han Zifeng and Ms Ma Yuanyuan from ECTAD China team attended the meeting.

Focused on reviewing regional Avian Influenza (AI) situations, the 11th AREM discussed ways to improve surveillance, shared information and experience on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), discussed how to improve project delivery and communication, and

introduced programme risk management as well. FAO China ECTAD team actively engaged in participatory sessions of the meeting, which provided a great opportunity to build and reinforce team spirit with different colleagues from other offices. A side-session on operations issues was also organized for country, RAP and HQs operations staff, covering key topics of operations aspects. This provided a good chance to share experiences and find solutions to deal with operations issues at the country project level, as well as to expand networking with FAO RAP, HQs and country offices operations colleagues. During the meeting, a number of follow-up actions were agreed by the participants.

From the perspectives of human and veterinary medicine, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been recognized to reach an alarming level in most countries. It has been regarded as one of the most important emerging threats to public health and food security worldwide. AMR refers to microorganism, including virus, bacteria, parasites and fungi, which have obtained resistance to antimicrobial substances. AMR has also been aggravated by excessive and unsuitable antimicrobial usage. Different aspects are involved:

• Lack of proper regulations and governance on antimicrobial usage (AMU)

• Inappropriate therapy adherence or AMU

• Non-therapeutic use

• Lack of oversight on selling antimicrobials over the counter or through the internet

• Availability of counterfeit and poor-quality antimicrobials

Various purposes for both medical treatments and non-therapeutic ones, such as using antibiotic growth promoter for animal growth promotion, were closely related to antimicrobial use in animal and plant productions. Intensification of animal production systems is currently on-going in China due to the growing demand for animal protein. As China is the world’s biggest pig and poultry producer, the AMR issue in China should be scientifically treated and properly addressed.

Representatives of the meeting © FAO

FAO is engaging in antimicrobial resistance intervention

No. 2-151C Tayuan Diplomatic Office Building, No. 14 Liang Ma He Nan Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing, P.R.China Tel: (86 10) 8532 3634 | Fax: (86 10) 8532 3681E-mail: FAO-CN@fao.org

In general, overuse and misuse of antimicrobials are related to the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance in both pathogenic and commensal bacteria in food-producing animals, which can be transferred to humans through food chain, direct contact with animals or via the environment indirectly. Furthermore, the overuse and misuse of antimicrobials may also lead to the release of antimicrobial residues to the environment.

FAO has identified four main pillars of work on AMR, which serve as the focus areas for the FAO global action plan. These four areas are strongly interrelated and need to be addressed in parallel, which are to: 1) improve awareness on AMR and related threats; 2) develop capacity for surveillance and monitoring of AMR and AMU in food and agriculture; 3) strengthen governance related to AMU and AMR in food and agriculture; and 4) promote good practices in food and agricultural systems and the prudent use of antimicrobials.

FAO aims to assist the agricultural sectors in China, especially the livestock sector, to avoid imprudent usage of antimicrobials and to achieve a more sustainable, resilient and healthy animal production system. FAO will support the Chinese government to enhance its integrated surveillance and risk analysis system to address AMR, as well as to develop good practices to reduce the use of antimicrobials.

Recommended activities and interventions include:

• Improving public awareness of AMR and related threats at national and international level by organizing an international AMR conference;

• Reducing AMU, particularly for non-therapeutic purposes, in swine, poultry and livestock.

1. A Chinese delegation from the Ministry of Agriculture of China will visit FAO HQs in Rome from 4 to 5 May 2017 to discuss how to strengthen the cooperation in the area of animal health.

2. The Veterinary Epidemiology for the Executives (FETPV-E) workshop will be held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province of China from 18 to 19 May 2017.

Upcoming activity

FAO Focus Areas of work as they relate to the five objectives of the Global Action Plan on AMR © FAOFour Focus Areas of the FAO Action Plan on AMR © FAO