Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance is a major and growing public health threat. Recently, Health Canada introduced multiple regulatory changes to strengthen the oversight of antimicrobial drugs for veterinary use. These changes aim specifically at increasing control over importation of veterinary drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients, mandatory reporting of antimicrobial sales data from manufacturers, importers and compounders and facilitating access to low risk veterinary health products. Additional policy changes under existing authorities are also being made to enhance veterinary supervision of antimicrobial use and to remove production claims for food animals from labels of medically important antimicrobial drugs. These important interlinked initiatives are aimed towards enhancing antimicrobial stewardship in Canada to preserve the effectiveness of existing antimicrobials and to protect the health of Canadians.
Highlights
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) continues to be a major public health risk that threatens the availability of effective antimicrobial therapy of infectious diseases worldwide
As a federal authority for the regulation of antimicrobial drug products, Health Canada recognizes the human health risks associated with the emergence of AMR
Health Canada’s approach to evaluating and managing AMR risks associated with the use of antimicrobials in food animals is based on a complementary set of regulatory and policy initiatives
Summary
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) continues to be a major public health risk that threatens the availability of effective antimicrobial therapy of infectious diseases worldwide. Health Canada’s approach to evaluating and managing AMR risks associated with the use of antimicrobials in food animals is based on a complementary set of regulatory and policy initiatives. These initiatives are significant deliverables under the Government of Canada’s “Antimicrobial Resistance and Use in Canada: A Federal Framework for Action” [1] and are essential elements of the stewardship component of the Pan-Canadian Framework on AMR [2]. As Canada has a federated system of government, the provinces and territories (via the veterinarians and pharmacist professions they regulate) control the use of antimicrobial drugs, whereas the Federal Government approves the sale of these drugs This division of responsibilities creates complexity and shared responsibility for oversight on what can be imported and sold and what can be imported and used.
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