WFA-led brief strengthens role of animal welfare in AMR governance ahead of establishment of the Independent Panel on Evidence for Action Against AMR
A new policy briefing paper has been released today by the AMR (Antimicrobial Resistance) Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Platform (MSPP), ‘Embedding animal welfare in the IPEA mandate: a One Health imperative for curbing antimicrobial resistance (AMR)’. The brief has been developed by the Action Group on Animal Welfare – AMR Nexus – a World Federation for Animals-led group of health and animal welfare organisations, including FOUR PAWS, Ethical Seafood Research Group and Brooke Action for Working Horses and Donkeys, amongst others. The group also includes academic and research institutions such as the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and UN member states, including the governments of Barbados and the United Kingdom, with the EU as an observer.
The policy brief presents recommendations to UN member states on the role of animal welfare for the work of the Independent Panel on Evidence for Action against AMR (IPEA). The establishment of the IPEA by the Quadripartite organisations¹ was requested at the 2024 UN General Assembly political declaration on AMR to facilitate the use of multisectoral, scientific evidence to support Member States in efforts to tackle AMR. Once established later this year, the IPEA will focus on evidence synthesis, supporting governments to translate science into policy.
High quantities of the world’s antimicrobials are administered to farmed animals, with predictions that this use could increase 30% by 2040 compared with 2019². In many cases, farmers routinely administer antimicrobials to animals, even when they are healthy, in order to avert the risk of disease that is prevalent due to the crowded, intensive systems in which they are reared. Its overuse is a contributor to resistance to antimicrobials in humans, with the WHO listing AMR among the top threats for global health, responsible for 1.27 million global deaths and contributing to 4.95 million deaths in 2019³.
The brief highlights how improved animal welfare can reduce infection risk and minimise the dependence on antimicrobials in farmed animals, recommending better practices in management, nutrition, housing and handling in order to lower the risk of disease emergence and spread. It outlines specific policy actions:
- integrating animal welfare expertise into IPEA’s scope of work,
- providing scientific evidence to recognise animal welfare as a cornerstone of prevention strategies, and
- translating this evidence into applied recommendations to help governments integrate animal welfare as one of the key priority actions into National Action Plans on AMR.
Dr Masika Sophie, global health policy manager at World Federation for Animals, comments, “Improved animal welfare in agrifood systems lowers the need for overuse of antimicrobials—a key contributor to AMR in humans. With global antimicrobial use in livestock predicted to increase, synthesis and application of this evidence is vital to reduce overreliance.
“We are launching this paper now, in advance of the global multistakeholder consultative process for the establishment of IPEA, so that UN member states have the tools to take a science-based and holistic approach to prevention, to advance animal, human and environmental health.”
On 8 September at 9:30-12:00 CEST, the AMR MSPP is hosting the first virtual global multi-stakeholder consultation, co-moderated by Dr Masika Sophie of the World Federation for Animals. The consultations aim to support the process of establishing the IPEA, which will be launched at UNEA-7 in December. Attendees will include experts from across One Health (human, animal, agrifood and environment), representatives from governments, intergovernmental organisations, research and academia, civil society, UN agencies and others.
Attendees can register here
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