Antibiotic resistance poses a global threat, and the World Health Organization (WHO) have warned of commonplace infections becoming untreatable and routine surgeries impossible.
Far from being a mere industry concern, antibiotic resistance has entered the mainstream zeitgeist – company stakeholders and consumers are more concerned with robust traceability and antibiotic reduction than ever before.
Speaking on this subject, Richard Sibbit, Head of Animal Health at Proagrica, emphasised the urgent need for connectivity and meaningful integration in the industry to help address some of these significant challenges: “For businesses in the animal health sector, connectivity means the ability to record the sale of vaccines and antibiotics to farmers and a thorough record of the exact clinical treatments taking place on farm down to total quantity used and daily dosage levels,” said Richard. “In the short term, this is the most efficient way to demonstrate compliance. In the long-term, intelligent use of this data can be used to take significant steps towards reducing antibiotics and boosting productivity.”
Informed decisions from intelligent data
In theory, better vaccination should lead to a reduction in antibiotic usage. Despite this, there’s little industry-wide, real time data providing actionable insight. By harnessing connected data solutions, it becomes possible to drill down into every facet of antibiotic stewardship, including:
- regional differences
- product usage,
- disease incidents
- weather conditions
- seasonal variances
This complete overview of the data available serves as a real-time foundation for monitoring best practice, management and a robust vaccination programme that works towards significantly reducing antibiotic usage.
Data connectivity doesn’t just benefit those in the animal health industry – it helps combat an imminent and pervasive global threat.
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