18 November 2013: Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance (RUMA, UK) has launched its revised pig guidelines.

Brussels, 18 November 2013: EPRUMA reiterates its support to the European Commission action plan on antibiotic resistance and calls on the EU institutions to promote the Responsible Use of veterinary medicines across all EU Member States.

EPRUMA partners firmly believe that Responsible Use (RU) should be an important part of the EU’s antibiotic strategy as RU complements policy and legislation by helping maintain the efficacy of antibiotics both in human and animal health.

14 November 2013: In a meeting with MEP Marit Paulsen, Rapporteur on Animal Health within the Agri-Committee of the European Parliament, EPRUMA called for a food chain approach to disease prevention and control, including funding to offer training opportunities and knowledge transfer to operators along the food chain across all EU Member States, as part of the new Animal Health Law.

18 October 2013: Vetresponsable, the Spanish Platform for the Responsible Use of Medicines in Animals, has published a guidance document for the Responsible Use of veterinary medicines in beekeeping, a strategically important sector of agriculture.

The guidance document, which is now available on www.vetresponsable.es, provides veterinarians with general information on veterinary medicines and specific advice on their use as part of a holistic approach including good biosecurity, hygiene, nutrition, diagnosis, etc.

Download the guidance document.

11 October 2013: The European Group for Generic Veterinary Products (EGGVP) has joined EPRUMA. By having EGGVP on board, EPRUMA continues to strengthen its position and network as the European multi-stakeholder platform for the Responsible Use of veterinary medicines.

EPRUMA now comprises ten organisations representing European veterinarians; farmers; manufacturers of animal medicines and diagnostics; feed manufacturers; professionals working in animal health and sanitary security, as well as sustainable agriculture; and pharmacists.

EGGVP is an independent organisation representing the industry of generic veterinary medicines in Europe. Their 22 member companies focus on the development and marketing of generic medicines for food-producing animals and pets. See further details on www.eggvp.org.

27 September 2013: The UK RUMA alliance (Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture) announces the appointment of Gwyn Jones as Chairman.

Gwyn Jones is a dairy farmer from Sussex and a strong advocate of the responsible use of medicines on farm. He was previously Vice President of the National Farmers’ Union and is currently Chairman of EPRUMA, the European Union equivalent of RUMA.

Read the RUMA press release.

20 September 2013: An EPRUMA delegation led by Gwyn Jones, Chairman, met the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy, Tonio Borg, on 16 September. EPRUMA requested the Commission to make the Responsible Use of veterinary medicines a key component of the EU’s antibiotic strategy.

Veterinarians, farmers and the entire food chain are committed to the Responsible Use of veterinary medicines. This includes raising awareness and promoting training initiatives on the use of best- practice guidelines to make a difference on the ground.  Nevertheless, Gwyn Jones stressed the need for the Commission to support EPRUMA’s activities and to ensure that the Responsible Use concept is promoted in the entire European Union.

18 June 2013: Vetresponsable, a Spanish stakeholder initiative on the Responsible Use of veterinary medicines in animals, a spin-off of the national platform for animal health (Vet+i), has just launched its website:  www.vetresponsable.es.

The website is a powerful information tool for veterinarians, farmers, pet owners and other stakeholders as it explains the goal and benefits of Responsible Use, as well as the registration of veterinary medicines, pharmacovigilance and other related aspects.

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.