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PUNJAB’S ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANT
POULTRY FARMS SET ALARM
BELLS RINGING
A new study led
by researchers
from the Center
for Disease
Dynamics,
Economics
and Policy
(CDDEP),
published in Environmental Health
Perspectives, finds high levels
of antibiotic-resistant bacteria
in chickens raised for both meat
and eggs on farms in Punjab. The
study raises serious concerns over
the use of antibiotics for growth
promotion in farm animals. For the
study, the largest of its kind ever to
be conducted in India, researchers
collected more than 1500 samples
from 530 birds on 18 poultry farms
in six districts in Punjab and tested
them for resistance to a range
of antibiotics critical to human
medicine.
Two-thirds of the farms reported
using antibiotics for growth
promotion; these farms were also
nearly three times more likely
to report multi drug resistant
bacteria than those that did not use
antibiotics for growth promotion.
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BioVoiceNews | August 2017
Antimicrobial growth promotion
(AGP) use in farm animals is
increasing worldwide in response to
the rising demand for food animal
products. Previous studies by
CDDEP researchers have projected
that antimicrobial consumption in
food animal production will rise
globally by 67 percent by 2030,
including more than a tripling of
use in India.
HEALTH MINISTRY COMES
UP WITH GUIDELINES ON
THALASSEMIA
Public health is a state subject.
However, the Ministry has
prepared and issued comprehensive
guideline for Haemoglobinopathies
(Thalassemia, Sickle cell anemia
and other variant anemia) for
prevention and management of
Haemoglobinopathies. The Minister
of State (Health and Family
Welfare), Mrs Anupriya Patel stated
this in a written reply in the Rajya
Sabha on 18th July.