The European Farm Council is scheduled to discuss the EU’s strategy to tackle Anti Microbial Resistance (AMR) at the end of this month.

EU health ministers will also meet on the matter in mid-June following a commitment from the seven most powerful economies in the world to tackle the issue. Leaders of the G7 pledged to “make collective efforts for strengthening and actively implementing a multi-sectoral one health approach” at a summit in Japan last week.

The news comes following the publication of a major review on how to tackle global drug-resistant infections. Tackling Drug Resistant Infections Globally: Final Report and Recommendations was led by former Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O’Neill. He said that antimicrobial resistance could kill an extra 10 million people per year and cost up to $100 trillion by 2050 if not brought under control. He called for new steps to address the problem including limits on antibiotic use in agriculture, improving surveillance, promoting the use of vaccination and alternatives to antibiotics.

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According to the report, many countries are likely to use more antibiotics in agriculture than on humans but they do not hold or publish that information.

Antibiotics are not used to treat sick animals in a lot of cases, but to prevent infections or promote growth, the report states. It recommends a globally co-ordinated approach to tackling their use, costing an estimated $40bn (€36bn) over a 10-year period.

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‘Doctors, they’re sickness professionals. Farmers are the health professionals’