14 Nov 2021

 Farmers have been advised against misuse of drugs as it can have devastating effects on animals, environment  and humans.

In an interview with BOPA, Deputy director, Department of Veterinary Services, Dr Kefentse Motshegwa said misuse of drugs which may include overdose or underdose due to lack of knowledge by farmers usually lead to development of antibiotic resistance.

“The bacteria would have developed ways to fight off drugs, such as through genetic mutation, leading to the ineffectiveness of antibiotics,” he said.

Dr Motshegwa noted that the use of antibiotics in animal feeds could also result in antibiotic resistance, citing examples of chickens that were fed growth promotions. “When humans eat these chickens, they would then develop antibiotic resistance,” he added.

He said antibiotic resistance in animals directly affected human beings through the use of meat and other products such as milk and eggs from affected animals.

The ecosystem, he said could be affected by antibiotic resistance since all this could be washed into water systems through animal droppings and remains as well as being transferred from human beings into the system. “We can unknowingly eat vegetables watered with infected water and in that way, we will develop antibiotic resistance,” he said.

He indicated that antibiotic resistance was a huge threat to food security and the economy of the nation. “We cannot achieve food security with diseases that cannot be treated both in people, who are workers as well as in animals,” he added.

Dr Motshegwa said as the country was working towards diversification of the economy through agriculture, he noted that it would not be possible if antibiotic resistance was still a challenge.

Farmers, he said  would lose large numbers of their animals as drugs would not be able to cure them. “Their profits would drastically drop, which would even result in others completely stopping farming.

 To achieve food security, there is a need to attract more people to venture into farming not to lose farmers,” he said.

He indicated that with few healthy animals, the production of meat, milk, eggs and other agricultural products would be reduced.

Dr Motshegwa said that  farmers would lose a lot of money to find solutions to the problem, highlighting that the government would also spend huge amounts of money to address the situation. “People with incurable conditions due to this situation will rely on government for lifelong medications, which is a cost to the nation as these drugs come at a high cost,” he said.

He highlighted that to arrest the situation, it was wise to prevent than to cure. “We have to use vaccinations and avoid antibiotics, we have to make sure that we work hard to stop the nation and our animals from contracting diseases that may need antibiotics,” he said.

He said government had banned animal feeds which promoted growth. Instead, he said farmers should always purchase drugs with prescriptions from veterinary doctors.

He also advised retailers not to sell to farmers without prescriptions. “I know it is common practice that farmers just buy without prescriptions but that is not advisable, both the seller and farmer will be breaking the law,” he added.

To farmers, he said they should buy locally manufactured feeds since antibiotics were mostly found in imported feeds, adding that in Botswana it was against the law to put antibiotics in feeds.

Dr Motshegwa said apart from vaccinations, farmers should make sure that their animals were always in clean environments, with the right temperatures and without any other factors that might lead to infections hence the use of antibiotics.

He indicated that new laws to address the situation had been drafted and the ministry was working on sensitizing the nation about antibiotic resistance before implementation. ENDS