The European sales and use of antimicrobials for veterinary use (ESUAvet) report, published in March, ‘marks a significant step forward in the EU efforts to monitor and promote the responsible use of antimicrobials,’ confirmed Catarina Ferreira of the European Medicines Agency (EMA). A joint EMA/FVE webinar was held early June to help practitioners understand the new report. Recordings and slides of the webinar are now available.
ESVAC out, ESUAvet in
‘EU countries have of course been collecting data for many years,’ said Ms Ferreira, confirming that the ESUAvet will be ‘building on the success of its predecessor, the ESVAC report.’ With a few important differences: ‘while ESVAC data collection was voluntary, there is now a legal framework, making reporting mandatory.’
Data collection based on sales
Other differences: ‘data will now also be collected at species level, with increased standardisation, and the report will also be looking at sales figures, which includes off-license use.’ Consumption will be calculated as the total quantity of active substances (pack size x strength x packs sold or used), divided by the animal biomass (number of animals x average weight).
Other species to be added soon
The report includes data from all 27 EU Member States, as well as Iceland and Norway. Veterinarians were 'instrumental' in this achievement, serving as the sole providers of ‘use data' in 16 countries. The next ESUAvet report, with 2024 data, is planned for December 2025. In the coming years, the report will also include data for ducks, sheep, goats, rabbits, horses and fish (by 2027) and dogs, cats and fur animals (by 2030).