Antibiotics Overuse: Why Healthcare Should Care about Agriculture Use

The American Medical Association, in partnership with Kaiser Permanente and Health Care Without Harm

Of all the antibiotics consumed each year in the U.S. only an estimated 15 percent are used for human therapy. The bulk of the remaining antibiotics, an estimated 70 percent, are routinely given to poultry, beef cattle, and swine in their feed, not to treat diagnosed disease, but to promote faster growth and for routine disease prevention.

In 2003, the U.S. Institute of Medicine/National Academy of Science stated that decreasing "antimicrobial use in human medicine alone will have little effect on the current [antibiotic-resistant] situation" and that "substantial efforts must be made to decrease inappropriate overuse [of antibiotics] in animals and agriculture."

This webinar will highlight the human health implications of agricultural overuse of antibiotics and provide health promoting policy and practice examples for the medical community. This second in a four part series will be moderated by Preston Marring, M.D., Kaiser Permanente, and feature David Wallinga, M.D., MPH., Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Diane Imrie, R.D., MBA., Fletcher Allen Health Care, Robert Martin, Senior Officer at the Pew Environment Group.

To register please visit the Health Care Without Harm website.

Health Care Without Harm's first webinar, Healthy Food in Healthcare: The Role for Healthcare in Food and Agriculture Policy, took place on September 9, 2010.