Great strides – but more to do
Over the past six years the UK livestock industry has secured remarkable progress in voluntarily improving antibiotic stewardship, halving use to achieve some of the lowest sales in Europe both overall and of highest-priority critically important antibiotics.
However, there’s more to do. New challenges are emerging all the time – including resistance to other medicines such as anthelmintics, novel scientific research that will inform changes in practices, and rapidly-evolving political, climatic and social environments.
Steering the livestock sectors through this will continue to be RUMA’s remit. I look forward to bringing my knowledge and experience – alongside that of my new deputy chair Dawn Howard, the members of the RUMA board and the Independent Scientific Group – to help the livestock industries face these challenges.
I pay tribute to the transformational leadership of Gwyn Jones over the past six years, which has helped the UK take a global leadership position in voluntary stewardship of antibiotics in agriculture.
I’m pleased to announce it was agreed to co-opt Gwyn to the RUMA board for a handover period, to help the delivery of a number of projects.
Cat McLaughlin has been elected new chair of RUMA, the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance
