Pecan Pie & Politics
Thursday, I attended November’s One Health Academy dinner. It’s purpose is to unite governmental departments, non-governmental organizations, and private industry leaders to promote collaboration among veterinary medicine, human medicine, and the agricultural industries. It was really nice to see that a group like this exists. There were a number of veterinarians there. New grads in the Washington area take note! This is a great opportunity to meet a diverse group in a laid-back, social setting. Even though, I was the only pharmacist among them, I felt very much included in their camaraderie.
Thursday’s topic of discussion was the use of antibiotics in animal agriculture. It was a lively discussion lead by Dr. John Goldberg, from the House Committee on Agriculture. This topic is relevant because S.619/H.R. 1549 Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act of 2009 is being considered by committees of Congress. It bans the “nontherapeutic” use of “critically important antimicrobial drugs” in feed or water with the purpose of decreasing the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. While the intentions of the authors may have been good, the bill itself lacks a scientific basis, takes away extremely important uses of antimicrobials such as prevention and control, and will likely result in higher morbidity and mortality in animals.
Unfortunately, many of our Congressional representatives come from urban areas and can overlook the needs of people from more rural districts who would be affected by this bill. So it’s important for professionals in the animal health industry to make sure that our representatives know the impact that bills, such as this, will have. Go to: http://avmacan.avma.org/avma/dbq/officials/ where you can look up your representatives and send an email to them using a letter pre-formatted by the AVMA (so easy!). Make your voice heard!!
-Tara Marmulak