Antibiotic Awareness Week: New and updated resources for veterinarians

Published on
information-circle This article is more than 3 years old

Antibiotics and other antimicrobials are critical tools to fight disease in both animals and people. Because veterinarians work at the intersection of animal and public health, we serve as stewards to protect the effectiveness of these important drugs. This week is U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week, and we’re excited to release new tools that will help our members play an active role in combating antimicrobial resistance.

Antimicrobials need to be used judiciously to help safeguard their effectiveness. This means administering them only when they are medically necessary, using the most appropriate product for a specific purpose, and administering the correct dose, with the correct frequency and duration, and by an appropriate route.

We have the tools to help you do that. We recently refreshed and reorganized the antimicrobial resources on our website to make them easier to use. We’ve also added new information and tools to support veterinarians in conscientious decision-making and promote antimicrobial stewardship across the profession.

You’ll find important information, including:

We also have posters, handouts, and other materials for you to use in daily practice – whether you work in food production, companion animal practice, or other settings. Among these are:

  • Information on the Veterinary Feed Directive
  • Client education posters
  • Practice reference materials with antimicrobial therapy dos and don’ts for dogs and cats
  • Information you can share with clients on the changing use of antibiotics

Just in time for Antibiotic Awareness Week, our Board of Directors this weekend approved a new AVMA policy that clarifies definitions of the terms prevention, control, and treatment in regard to antimicrobial therapy. This policy will make it easier for you to ensure that your use of antibiotics in practice complies with best practices for antimicrobial stewardship.

Coming soon, we’re also developing a checklist – based off the AVMA’s Core Principles of Antimicrobial Stewardship – to help guide veterinarians in implementing antimicrobial stewardship programs in your workplace or practice.

Veterinarians are key players in protecting animals and humans from disease and antimicrobials help us do that. Using them responsibly is crucial. Learn more at avma.org/Antimicrobials.

Comments

Add New Comment

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
CAPTCHA
Please verify that you are not a robot.