The Department of Agriculture will hold a conference on antimicrobial resistance next week to tackle the rise in antibiotic resistance.

The conference, which will be held in Moorepark next Monday, 24 November, follows today's launch of a National Interdepartmental Antimicrobial Resistance Consultative Committee. The Committee has been established between the Department of Agiculture and the Department of Health to tackle the growing problem of antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Antimicrobial resistance is driven by the misuse and overuse of antibiotics and by poor infection control. Existing antibiotics are becoming less effective, fewer and fewer new antibiotics are being developed, and new multi-resistant bacteria are emerging in both human and veterinary medicine.

The two departments will now work together with the relevant stakeholders from both sectors in a single consultative forum, chaired jointly by both Departments.

Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney is scheduled to address next week's conference. Officials from the department will be joined by representatives from the IFA and ICMSA and speakers from abroad to discuss AMR. Session one will look at stakeholder perspectives and contributions, while the second session aims to raise awareness of prudent use and alternatives to anrimicrobials.

Commenting on the establishment of the Committee, Minister Coveney said that dealing with the problem requires a coordinated approach. He sauid: “Antibiotics are a hugely valuable resource to protect both human and animal health and our best chance at protecting them is by working together today to ensure that we have effective antibiotics tomorrow.”