Leaders of organizations for hog, beef and turkey farmers
pledged their support when United States President Barrack Obama announced he’s
serious about battling antibiotic resistance, including curbing the use of
antibiotics as growth promotants.
He signed an executive order Thursday creating a
government task force and presidential advisory council to combat
antibiotic-resistant bacteria in human healthcare and animal agriculture.
The order directs the task force, led by the
secretaries of defense, agriculture and health and human resources, to submit
an action plan by Feb. 15 outlining specific steps for tackling the problem.
“The rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria …
represents a serious threat to public health and the economy,” Obama said in
the order.
It cited data from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention that estimates at least two million illnesses and 23,000
deaths a year in the United States are caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
The farm leaders all said they support a
voluntary move by antibiotic marketers to stop using them as growth promotors
added to livestock and poultry rations.
But as Ron Doering, former president of the
Canadian Food Inspection Agency, has written in a column, the pledge is
meaningless because they still want to market their antibiotics for disease
prevention.
Under that sleight of hand, they can continue
to market just as much antibiotics in exactly the same way as they have been
doing for decades.
