Scientists, veterinarians, policymakers and advocates gathered in Nicosia in Cyprus last week for a key event on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in European farming, with the country currently the highest user in the European Union (EU).
At the event, experts spotlighted how the overuse of antibiotics in farming across Europe is contributing to an alarming rise in resistance and that, despite a 51% drop in EU farm antibiotic sales between 2011 and 2022, further progress is proving difficult, with sales increasing again in 2023 and 2024.
Cyprus, Spain and Poland remain among the highest users on the continent, but the former appears to have a particular reliance on the medication, with 85% of all supplies going to farm animals, compared with the EU average of 62%.
The event, a collaboration between the Animal Advocacy & Food Transition (AAFT), the Cyprus University of Technology and the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe, and held under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture of Cyprus, ultimately concluded that a fundamental change in approach is urgently needed.
The scale of the problem was laid bare by keynote speaker Coílín Nunan, policy and science manager at the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics, who pointed to a recent Lancet report showing that AMR was directly responsible for 1.1 million deaths globally in 2021, with a further 4.7 million deaths associated with resistance.
According to the Lancet, by 2050 those figures are projected to rise to 1.9 million deaths directly attributable to AMR and 8.2 million associated deaths.
The consequences, however, are already measurable, as Nunan pointed out. Currently, 69% of E. coli cases in pigs in Cyprus are multi resistant, the highest rate in the EU.
In Norway, where animal welfare standards are comparatively higher, that figure stands at 3%.
Nunan said the best way to drive a reduction in AMR is to raise animals in healthier and less stressful conditions, minimising disease and the need for antibiotics.
Speakers at the event were clear in their findings. In intensive farming systems across Europe, antibiotics are frequently used not to treat disease, but to compensate for the conditions that breed it, including high stocking densities, early weaning, chronic stress and restricted natural behaviour.
Research presented at the event showed that higher-welfare farming systems lead directly to lower antibiotic use and lower resistance rates, such as those seen across the Nordic countries.
“The solution is not just fewer antibiotics. The solution is better systems,” said Olga Kikou, director of the Animal Advocacy & Food Transition non-profit.
“If we want to truly address AMR, we must change our approach: from treatment to prevention. And prevention starts with better conditions for animals.”
Collectively, attendees urged Cyprus to use its current presidency of the Council of the EU to place AMR and farm animal welfare firmly on the European agenda and to act decisively at home.
