India to curb antibiotic use in animals to control drug resistance

India has unveiled its next-generation national action plan on antimicrobial resistance (AMR 2.0) for 2025-2029, to curb misuse of antibiotics across humans and animals as drug-resistant infections emerge as a major national health threat.

- Priyanka Sharma [e-mail]

The plan focus-ses on phasing out non-therapeutic antibiotic use in livestock, fisheries and agriculture and tightening prescription-only access. The strategy aims to protect the effectiveness of lifesaving drugs.

Antibiotic resistance can be transferred from animals to humans through the consumption of milk, meat, eggs, and other dairy products.

The government's revamped strategy comes in the backdrop of data showing that AMR directly caused an estimated 267,000 deaths in 2021 and contributed to nearly 1 million more deaths during the year, according to two officials and a document reviewed by Mint. These mortality figures are from Global Burden of Disease study on antimicrobial resistance, conducted by Antimicrobial Resistance Collaborators, including the WHO.