The
FDA should take bold steps to rein in overuse and misuseCiting the growing threat from antibiotic resistant infections, nearly 800 health care professionals signed onto a letter sent to the Obama administration on Tuesday urging more limits on antibiotics used in food animal production.
“Current
patterns of antibiotic use in agriculture not only increase the risk of
antibiotic-resistant infections in people but also support an agricultural
system that harms public and environmental health,” said Ted Schettler, MD, the
science director for the Science and Environmental Health Network and an
adviser for Health Care Without Harm.
In their
letter addressed to 1600 Pennsyvlania Avenue, the advocates urge the president
to “move forward with stalled U.S. Food and Drug Administration actions to
reduce the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in food animal production.”
“Given the
rapid rate at which many antibiotics are becoming ineffective for treating
human disease and the limited number of new antibiotics in development, the FDA
should take bold steps to rein in overuse and misuse,” the groups wrote.
Robert
Gould, MD, President of the San Francisco Bay Area Physicians for Social
Responsibility, added: “The antibiotic resistance crisis is growing worse each
day. Physicians are seeing more and more patients with antibiotic resistant
infections in hospitals, and we are cleaning up our own act by curbing our own
overuse of antibiotics in clinical practice. But this is not enough. We now
recognize that feeding healthy animals antibiotics contributes enormously to
this problem. As health professionals fundamentally concerned with the health
of our patients, we urge President Obama to demonstrate his leadership on this
issue by joining our demand that the livestock industry and the FDA promptly
correct this serious threat to public health.”
Aporte: Gianni Passalacqua
No hay comentarios.:
Publicar un comentario