Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) policies, which aim to redefine how antibiotics are used, reshape the veterinary profession’s relationships in at least two ways. The policies can give state veterinarians greater power over practising veterinarians and thus change the relationship between the profession and the government supposed to regulate it. The policies also call for coordination with other relevant professionals, mainly in the areas of human medicine and food safety, which can limit the veterinary profession’s autonomous decision-making. Based on a survey of veterinarians working at different levels of the administration and their non-veterinary colleagues in Switzerland, it is shown that AMR policies, by strengthening the administration’s planning and supervisory functions, do contribute to increased state control of the veterinary profession. However, this shift is limited because implementing the policies requires negotiating with representatives of the profession.
Highlights
In the past 15 years or so, antibiotic resistance has become the public problem that epitomises the ‘One Health’ approach promoted by international organisations (World Health Organization (WHO) 2014, 2015; World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) 2016; European Commission 2017)
They concern the prescription of antibiotics (Fortané 2016; Jensen et al 2018), which is an integral part both of the practice of urban and rural veterinarians and of their professional autonomy—as these public policies focus on rural veterinarians specialising in livestock, this article will concentrate on the latter
It should be added that veterinarians working within administrations are key to developing and implementing action plans against antimicrobial resistance, as has been the case with Switzerland’s ‘Strategy on Antibiotic Resistance’
Summary
In the past 15 years or so, antibiotic resistance has become the public problem that epitomises the ‘One Health’ approach promoted by international organisations (World Health Organization (WHO) 2014, 2015; World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) 2016; European Commission 2017). It should be added that veterinarians working within administrations are key to developing and implementing action plans against antimicrobial resistance, as has been the case with Switzerland’s ‘Strategy on Antibiotic Resistance’ (see Box 1) This article examines these state veterinarians’ characteristics and position statements in order to provide a sociological analysis of the trajectories of public policies against AMR and of the instruments used.. Beyond these declarations of intent (Box 1), this article examines how relationships between different types of actors result in some of these fields of activity being prioritised over others as implementation of the StAR progresses2 It focuses on veterinarians within the state administration in their pivotal role between the profession and the state in developing and implementing public action in veterinary medicine. Public veterinarians have found it difficult to put into practice their greater control over the sale and use of antibiotics, due to a lack of bureaucratic resources and
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