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Opinion
''We Are What We Eat''
"Most of the antibiotics sold in the United States — 70 percent — go to the animals we eat, especially pigs and chickens. To speed up growth and to prevent the spread of disease in crowded conditions, growers put small amounts of antibiotics into animals’ daily feed. The result is nearly the same as if we were eating the antibiotics ourselves: an increase in antibiotic resistance in humans and the emergence of drug-resistant microbes."
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Pew Charitable Trusts today applauded Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Susan Collins (R-ME), for introducing the Antimicrobial Data Collection Act, which would require the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, to report more information on the annual sales of antibiotics used among industrial farm animals. The bipartisan bill would also give the agency a deadline to finalize policies proposed last year to eliminate the use of antibiotics for growth promotion purposes in meat production.
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"As a nation, we need to exercise greater care with our use of antibiotics, in both humans and animals, so that these medications remain effective in treating serious bacterial infections."
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On April 23, chefs from across the country traveled to Washington to ask Congress to eliminate the overuse of antibiotics in meat and poultry production.
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On April 16, more than 50 moms, dads, chefs, farmers, and pediatricians came to Washington to call on Congress and the Obama administration to protect the public from superbugs by eliminating the overuse of antibiotics in food animal production.
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SuperChefs Against Superbugs, an initiative of the Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming, is a movement of chefs who want to stop the overuse of antibiotics in food animal production. On April 23, the following seven chefs visited Capitol Hill to explain why they serve meat and poultry raised without antibiotics.
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It used to be easy to treat healthy children with common bacterial infections; a regimen of antibiotic pills could usually wipe out the disease. Today, patients might need to go home on intravenous antibiotics because oral therapies will no longer work. Antibiotic resistance is to blame.
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A past bout of salmonella led Maine resident Danielle Wadsworth to travel to Washington, D.C. this week to argue for stronger regulations to curtail the use of antibiotics in livestock farming. She took part Wednesday in "Supermoms Against Superbugs," an initiative of the Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming.
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Dr. Cecilia Di Pentima is in Washington, D.C., for “Supermoms against Superbugs” to push for laws to curtail the use of antibiotics in livestock farming — one of many fronts in the battle to preserve the effectiveness of the medicines. Family physicians in the South, including Tennessee, have also been identified as inadvertent purveyors of drug-resistant bacteria by prescribing too many antibiotics.
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Each year, tens of thousands of Americans die and hundreds of thousands are hospitalized because of bacterial infections resistant to antibiotics. Antibiotic overuse on industrial farms is a big part of the problem. The largest U.S. meat and poultry producers feed antibiotics to healthy animals over much of their lives to make them grow faster and to compensate for the overcrowded and unsanitary conditions in which they are bred and slaughtered.
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On behalf of the undersigned organizations representing medical, public health, scientific, agricultural, environmental, animal protection, and other organizations, we urge you to include H.R. 820, the Delivering Antimicrobial Transparency in Animals (DATA) Act, as part of the final Animal Drug User Fee Act (ADUFA). This legislation provides a reasonable, common-sense approach to better understanding antibiotic use in agriculture.
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On Tuesday, April 16, more than 50 moms, dads, and other caregivers will participate in the second annual Supermoms Against Superbugs Advocacy Day. These doctors, chefs, farmers, and survivors of drug-resistant infections will call on President Barack Obama, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and Congress to shine a light on industrial farms’ antibiotic use and to put an end to the practices that threaten our health.
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We have an amazing roster of more than fifty moms, dads, and other caregivers ready to take Washington by storm. Hailing from 25 states, each supermom and superdad has a unique story to tell about why we need to stop overusing antibiotics on industrial farms, including moms who almost lost children to antibiotic-resistant infections and pediatricians who fight superbugs every day.
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"For decades, the meat industry has denied any problem with its reliance on routine, everyday antibiotic use for the nation's chickens, cows, and pigs. But it's a bit like a drunk denying an alcohol problem while leaning on a barstool for support. Antibiotic use on livestock farms has surged in recent years — from 20 million pounds annually in 2003 to nearly 30 million pounds in 2011."
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This year's celebration of National Public Health Week (NPHW) focuses on the theme, "Public Health is ROI: Save Lives, Save Money." Join us in recognizing the work of Pew's Health Initiatives.
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Can’t make it to Washington for Supermoms Against Superbugs Advocacy Day? Don’t worry — there are still many ways you can get involved!
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