Govt to curb overuse of antibiotics in livestock

Injudicious use of antibiotics in the livestock sector should be curbed, Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim.

The minister made the remark while speaking as the chief guest at a communication workshop on research findings on antimicrobial resistance at a hotel in Dhaka, read a press release received on Tuesday.

“The problem is being created by the easy availability of antibiotics and its arbitrary use without prescription… Safe and nutritious food should be consumed so that the antibiotics do not weaken us,” Rezaul said.

He added that the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock has realised the harmful side of indiscriminate use of antibiotics. Antimicrobial resistance laboratories of international standards have been developed to control indiscriminate use of antibiotics.

He further added that there is no reason to think that people will be safe if animal health declines. The government wants to establish the One Health concept. Collective cooperation is required in this regard.

The workshop was organised under the project titled “Antimicrobial resistance and zoonotic disease prevention to achieve the goals of Global Health Security Agenda in Bangladesh” under implementation by Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute (BLRI).

Director General of BLRI Dr SM Jahangir Hossain presided over the seminar while the Ministry Secretary Muhammad Yamin Chowdhury and Additional Secretary Shyamal Chandra Karmakar was present as a special guest in the workshop.

The director of the relevant project Md Abdus Samad presented the welcome speech and research results on antimicrobial resistance.

Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock Toufiqul Arif and Livestock Department Director General Dr Manzoor Mohammad Shahzada was present as the guest of honour.