**4. Prevention of AMR in veterinary practice**

In a bid to ensure measurable containment of AMR, there is a global formal declaration on AMR calling for the development of action plans on AMR by both international and national bodies. The Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance was approved in May 2015 by the World Health Assembly with the key strategies to increase global AMR awareness as well as developing policies that will attract more investment in the area of new medical interventions [72]. There is also a call to all Member States for establishing National Action Plans for AMR by 2017 of which about 57 countries have formalized such plans so far. The 2016 meeting of the UN General Assembly was another milestone focusing on multidisciplinary solution to the problems of AMR [73]. Moreover, the G20 called for the creation of a Global Research and Development (R&D) Collaboration Hub on AMR in July 2017 that could coordinate international funding efforts [74], and the search for the appropriate individuals to lead that hub began early this year. In line with the global agreement to develop National Action Plan on AMR, Nigeria (with some other developing nations) keyed into this agreement in 2017 through a 'One Health' approach [75] and then enrolled into a Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (GLASS). The Action Plan addresses five strategic objectives:


Several challenges exist regarding AMR containment in developing country like Nigeria; however, the development of this action plan is an important positive step in the right direction as it aims to address the problem at all level of governance and society [75].

Veterinarians play an important role in limiting and minimizing the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Because vets are often the first point of contact for livestock owners seeking animal medical attention, they can therefore play a part in addressing the problem of AMR [45]. One of the ways to reduce the risk of transfer of AMR from animals to humans is by minimizing the zoonotic transfer of bacteria [76]. This could be achieved by practicing stringent hygiene in the farms and any meat processing plants including the abattoirs and the markets. Thorough and effective cooking of meat product can also reduce the risk of AMR [77]. There is need to strengthen the information resources in developing countries to support health workers, patients, animal owners, and attendants as well as the general public to help in reducing the risk of AMR arising from the use of antimicrobials in animals. This will enable the society to better understand the importance and value of antimicrobials. The excessive and inappropriate use of antimicrobials in veterinary practice should be discouraged. Because antimicrobials are an extremely valuable resource in livestock production, their prudent use in animals will continue to provide benefits to society and will help ensure high

#### *Veterinary Pharmaceuticals and Antimicrobial Resistance in Developing Countries DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84888*

standards of welfare for those animals in the care of veterinarians [78]. Since exposure of bacteria to subtherapeutic concentrations of antimicrobials is thought to increase the speed of the selection of resistance, this should always be avoided [14, 15, 79]. Appropriate pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic relations for antimicrobials used in animals should be developed [12]. Optimal dosage strategies for eliminating zoonotic organisms in animals will reduce the risk of transferring resistance to humans [80].

According to Delia [34], broad consensus on the management of AMR in human and animal healthcare will require to:


Currently, there is no adequate information on animal production losses due to disease burden and the extent at which it could be prevented through proper use of antibiotics or their alternatives.

Although in Europe and other developed nations, the use of alternatives to antimicrobials as growth promoters is a success; their applicability in developing countries is not fully understood.

Despite the huge investments in the control of diseases in developing countries through vaccination, vector control, and the use of resistant breeds, evaluation from the angle of reduction in the usage of veterinary drug is lacking. In developing countries, the incidence and composition of substandard and fake drugs as well as their effects on treatment failure and resistance development is not well known. Similarly, the level of resilience of livestock farmers in developing countries to ban or restrict access to antimicrobials is equally not well known. It should be noted that policy and regulation alone is unlikely to improve use of vet drugs and the options for improving the use of vet drugs in agriculture and their effectiveness, feasibility, and affordability are not well understood.

#### **4.1 Rational drug use**

There have been success factors in the improvement of drug use in human health through wide range of intervention studies. Similarly, the World Animal Health Organization (OIE) and other world veterinary bodies also developed frameworks on rational use of vet drugs to which there is a limit veterinarians can make profit from antimicrobial sale for food animal production [71]. This is not the case in developing countries where the sale and use of veterinary antimicrobials is facing challenges for improvement. It was found from series of intervention studies that training remains the most common strategy for improving drug use, but this gave little success unless when combined with other strategies like changing the market condition [1].
