The Schippers Group and Healthy Livestock hosted an online conference about antimicrobial resistance (AMR) that featured leading scientists and practitioners in the field of antimicrobial use in farm animals

The Schippers Group is an organisation that aims to empower livestock farmers to optimise farm hygiene, eliminate antibiotics while increasing animal health and profitability.

Healthy Livestock is a collaborative research project comprised of academia, research institutes, private partners and companies aimed at studying the contributions of enhanced animal health and welfare on reducing the need to use antimicrobials in pigs and poultry and tackle AMR. 

With more than 300 attendees from 60 countries, the conference brought together voices from veterinarians, scientists, practitioners and policymakers to discuss strategies for reducing AMR. 

In this half-day conference, experts discussed prevention, early detection and precision medication of diseases in pigs, poultry and cattle. Prevention of diseases can be achieved by improving biosecurity enhancing resilience and these improvements in farm management are instrumental to reducing antimicrobial use and therefore AMR, according to the Schippers Group.

The organisation also said that scientific leads although are very strong, practical implementation appears challenging and effective but feasible concepts are required to achieve said goals. 

The conference is a precursor to a larger conference that will be held in Bologna, Italy, in June 2022. With these conferences, the Schippers Group aims to raise awareness of AMR as a threat to animal, human and environmental health, and to contribute to developing robust and sustainable livestock production systems. 

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