5 April 2013: Farmers Weekly (UK) launched today a campaigned entitled 'Making sense of medicines', supported by the UK Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance (RUMA) and the National Office of Animal Health (NOAH).The campaign addresses the Responsible Use of veterinary medicines and features Gwyn Jones, a UK dairy farmer who chairs EPRUMA.

The campaign will run for six weeks to help equip livestock producers with the latest thinking on medicine use to ensure the industry continues to have access to the medicines that are fundamental to running productive, high health and welfare systems. It will be supported by various online resources including a quiz.

19 March 2013: Gwyn Jones, EPRUMA Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Copa-Cogeca’s Animal Health and Welfare Working Party, spoke about existing initiatives to implement the Responsible Use (RU) of veterinary medicines at the OIE global conference on the Responsible Use of antimicrobial agents for animals, held in Paris on 13-15 March 2013. He emphasised the need for a harmonised multi-sectorial approach to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Mr Jones affirmed that AMR is a serious concern and that it is fundamental to ensure the Responsible Use of antibiotics to guarantee the treatment of bacterial infections both in animals and humans, and to prevent the transmission of resistant bacteria through the food chain. ‘It is important to reduce risks without reducing the availability of necessary antibiotics’, he added.

He explained that the farming community is aware of the importance of disease prevention and good husbandry practices as well as transparency and responsibility. ‘There is also greater collaboration among the key players – e.g. farmers, veterinarians, the animal health industry and research institutes – and public authorities’, he continued. He referred to RU guidelines developed by EPRUMA and national RU partnerships as examples of this multi-sectorial collaboration.

20 December 2012: The Federation of European Companion Animal Veterinary Associations (FECAVA) has published a poster with advice to veterinarians on the responsible use of antimicrobials in pets.

To download the poster, visit the FECAVA website.

19 December 2012: EPRUMA has met representatives from four national platforms promoting the responsible use (RU) of veterinary medicines. These included AMCRA (Belgium), BAKT (Germany), RUMA (United Kingdom) and Vet+I (Spain).

EPRUMA welcomes the work of these national platforms, as they enable relevant stakeholders to pursue a common approach to RU, tailored to national conditions where required.

3 July 2012: EPRUMA partners are happy to present their explanatory leaflet on the EPRUMA initiative regarding the responsible use of veterinary medicines.

Entitled ‘Introducing EPRUMA’, it explains the platform’s goal, objectives and activities and highlights the responsibilities of farmers, veterinarians and pet owners as well as overall societal benefits.

25 May 2012: The European Platform for the Responsible Use of Medicines in Animals (EPRUMA) has published a poster highlighting the role of veterinarians, farmers, pet owners and pharmacists in ensuring Responsible Use. The document also mentions the benefits of Responsible Use for the food chain and society at large.

The poster contains simple messages and features an attractive design. EPRUMA partners will use it to publicise the role and contribution of key stakeholders in ensuring the responsible use of veterinary medicines in food-producing animals and pets.

13 February 2012 - APRUMA, the Alberta Platform for the Responsible Use of Medicines in Animals, has launched a 'Best-practice framework for the use of antimicrobials in food-producing animals in Alberta' (Canada). APRUMA is a joint initiative of the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association (ABVMA) and Alberta Farm Animal Care (AFAC).

The APRUMA initiative was inspired by EPRUMA, the European Platform for the Responsible Use of Medicines in Animals, and their framework document is based on the original EPRUMA document. It has been adapted to reflect the reality of food animal production in the Province of Alberta in Canada.

EPRUMA partners are delighted to see that the initiative is having a positive impact both in Europe and beyond. The EPRUMA 'Best-practice framework for the use of antimicrobials in food-producing animals in the EU' is now available in ten languages (French, Czech, Dutch, English, German, Italian, Polish, Spanish, Romanian, Turkish) and further versions are being prepared. Furthermore, several countries are developing multi-stakeholder platforms to promote the responsible use of veterinary medicines, such as as AMCRA in Belgium, RUMA in the United Kingdom and, Vet+I in Spain.

See further details on www.apruma.ca.

More than 300 participants joined the FVE seminar on the theme ‘Antimicrobials: a true One-Health issue’ (Brussels, 18 November 2011), where representatives from the academic world in human and veterinary medicine, DG SANCO and the European Parliament presented their views to the audience.

Conclusions agreed upon stress that an appropriate use of antimicrobials is key to mitigating the risk of antimicrobial resistance, as pointed out by the FVE President, Dr Christophe Buhot. The veterinary profession conveyed its wish to work together with stakeholders to be part of the solution and announced a series of actions regarding antibiotics in veterinary medicine.

Veterinarians, farmers, the animal health industry and other stakeholders emphasised the importance of good animal husbandry, including biosecurity, good housing, nutrition, health plans and vaccination. This holistic approach also includes the responsible use of veterinary medicines under veterinary care.

See the conference conclusions, the programme and the presentations on the FVE website.

EPRUMA participated in the 'International Conference on Responsible Use of Antibiotics in Animals', held in Egmond aan Zee, The Netherlands, on 14-16 November 2011. The conference gathered more than 200 delegates from a wide range of stakeholders from 23 countries.

At the event veterinarians, farmers, regulators, authorities, academics and industry exchanged views on the future path regarding the responsible use of antibiotics in veterinary medicine. The conference conclusions included the following points:

• There is consensus on many issues and all stakeholders need to work together while respecting and accepting the diverse reality across regions;
• Despite the complexity of the matters, the current knowledge base on the use of antibiotics in veterinary medicine allows for adequate decision-making and implementation;
• The availability of veterinary medicines, including antibiotics, differs from region to region; their future availability should be ensured to be able to treat animals;
• Educating veterinarians and farmers is critical to enhance responsible use and reach out to a wider public; the position of the veterinarian needs to be strengthened;
• Decisions regarding veterinary medicines, including antibiotics, should be science based, for which communication, dialogue and trust are paramount;
• All stakeholders have the responsibility to raise awareness and acceptance of responsible use of veterinary antibiotics to a wider audience.

The conference encouraged all EU Member States to emulate the RUMA initiative (UK) by establishing national Responsible Use partnerships and by producing detailed species specific guidelines for use by veterinarians and farmers. Such an initiative could be based on the EPRUMA framework document.

It is inspiring to see that RUMA-style initiatives are happening across the EU, for example in Belgium (AMCRA) and Spain (under the Vet+I partnership).

See further details on the conference website.

Brussels, 17 November 2011 – EPRUMA welcomes the Communication from the Commission entitled “Action plan against the rising threats from Antimicrobial Resistance” and its emphasis on Responsible Use.

Bio-security, good housing, good nutrition and herd health plans, coupled with appropriate vaccine use is all part of the Responsible Use approach, with diagnostics guiding the choice of antimicrobial.

EPRUMA has developed a comprehensive website – www.epruma.eu - where guidelines on Responsible Use are available in 10 languages. In order to move from the information-gathering phase to the communication phase, it is important that the Commission’s 5 year strategy supports communication with vets and farmers so that Responsible Use is reinforced as the norm in vets’ and farmers’ daily activities.