Webinar on Data Collection and Analysis of Antimicrobial use in animals in the Region of the Americas

As part of the project “Working Together to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance”, the OIE Regional Representation for the Americas, with the support of the OIE Antimicrobial Resistance and Veterinary Products Department, organized the “OIE Webinar on the Database of Antimicrobial Agents for Use in Animals” aimed at the OIE National Focal Points for veterinary products. The National Focal Points for Animal Disease Notification took part in this Webinar.

Although the seminar was intended for the 7 countries that are part of the tripartite project: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay; owing to the importance of the prudent and responsible use of antimicrobials it was agreed to include in the webinar all the countries of the Americas region, as well as non-member countries. Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and the prudent and responsible use of antimicrobials is a global issue on which the OIE works extensively together with its Member countries.

However, the collection of antimicrobial use (AMU) data, carried out annually for the last 6 years, can still be improved in the Region, so that Member Countries can use this information to monitor their own progress and include it in their National Action Plans. Improved capacities for the collection and processing of AMU data will help make risk-based decisions and improve national biomass indicators for the national animal population. Antimicrobial agent use data in animals are relevant for the interpretation of AMR surveillance data and can help to address this issue more accurately.

The webinar, which took place on October 27-29, 2020, covered activities to support both the countries form the project as well as the rest of the Americas Region in preparing and improving data collection, the OIE Annual Report on the use of antimicrobials in animals and to improve the countries’ capacity to interpret antimicrobial use data in the context of animal biomass.

The ultimate objective of this Webinar was:

• To promote a more detailed understanding of the OIE Strategy on antimicrobial resistance and, particularly, the use of animal biomass calculations;
• To promote abilities which will enable the countries to monitor and collect data on AMU as part of the integrated surveillance of AMR;
• To enable data collection on AMU to serve as a basis to optimize antimicrobial use in National AMR Action Plans and as a framework for the assessment of the global action plan;
• To help countries in furthering the level of detail in their response to the OIE annual survey to report to the global database of antimicrobial agents intended for use in animals;
• To support member Countries in the development and implementation of AMU monitoring systems.

-Learn about the OIE Global Strategy on AMR and the prudent and responsible use of antimicrobials: https://www.oie.int/fileadmin/Home/eng/Media_Center/docs/pdf/PortailAMR/EN_OIE-AMRstrategy.pdf

-Share the OIE Communication campaign on AMR: https://oie-antimicrobial.com/

-Access the OIE Annual Reports: https://www.oie.int/en/scientific-expertise/veterinary-products/antimicrobials/

-For further information on the project, visit: https://www.paho.org/en/together-fight-antimicrobial-resistance