From: Alberta Farmed Animal Health and Welfare Steering Committee

Pharmaceutical Issues Priority Action Team

August, 2012

Dear Member:

As you probably remember from the last meeting, this Priority Action Team is tasked with creating key messages about antimicrobial use in livestock and poultry. These key messages are meant to function as short answers to questions from media, and from producers. Key messages are also meant to pique interest and send people to the Alberta Platform for

Responsible Use of Medicine in Animals (APRUMA.ca) website.

In the next few weeks and months, this team will continue to build relationships and create information related to this topic. As instructed by the steering committee, we will also be providing AFAHW Steering Committee members with short articles that can be used in newsletters, on websites and in speaking notes.

Please note: these key messages are intended to support steering committee members. Some members already have their

own key messages; others may find it useful to amend them.

Dr. Duane Landals

Registrar, Alberta Veterinary Medical Association

Lead, AFAHWSC Pharmaceutical Issues Priority Action Team

Key Messages for Media

Our industry is aware of and very concerned about the issue of antimicrobial resistance and the ways in which our

antimicrobial use may contribute to it.

Antimicrobial resistance is a complex problem that will require close collaboration among human health and animal

health professionals around the world.

Antimicrobial use is essential to ensure the health and welfare of animals as well to maintain a safe and adequate food

supply.

Our industry is committed to lowering the risk of AMR to human health by promoting the use of:

• the right drug

• for the right reason

• at the right dose

• for the right duration.

If you need more specific information,APRUMA.ca is a great resource for more info, or please call Dr. Duane Landals, Registrar of the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association.

Key messages for producers

AMR is an issue whenever we use drugs: it is up to us to make sure we do things properly.

The issue of AMR and antimicrobial use in agriculture is not to going away; we have to do things properly in order to

ensure continued access to the drugs we need.

It is important to use:

• the right drug

• for the right reason

• at the right dose

• for the right duration.

If you need more specific information, APRUMA.ca is a great resource for more info. If you have a specific question, please contact the association as we have contacts in the professional community to help us access information and advice.