Pakistan signs MoU with Denmark's ICARS to curb poultry antibiotic use

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of National Food Security and Research and the Denmark-based International Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions (ICARS) signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday under which ICARS will fund research worth $540,855 over three years into reducing antibiotic use in Pakistan's poultry industry.

Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain attended the virtual signing ceremony along with senior ministry officials, ICARS representatives and researchers, Business Recorder reported. The Associated Press of Pakistan reported that the agreement covers cooperation against antimicrobial resistance in both the livestock and poultry sectors.

According to Business Recorder, the money will fund a project led by the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, in collaboration with the Poultry Research Institute, Rawalpindi.

Speaking at the ceremony, the minister said antimicrobial resistance posed a serious threat to human and animal health, food security and agricultural productivity, and that proper antibiotic use and evidence-based interventions were necessary for better livestock production. He said scientific research would deliver practical benefits to farmers and contribute to Pakistan's National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance.

Helle Engslund Krarup, executive director of ICARS, said the partnership would generate scientific evidence on alternatives to antibiotics and help reduce antimicrobial use and resistance in Pakistan's poultry industry.

Rodolphe Mader, senior science advisor for veterinary sciences at ICARS, said the project would test organic acids as a possible alternative to antibiotics in a randomised controlled trial involving 30 poultry farms, with 15 farms receiving the intervention and 15 serving as controls. The research will assess antibiotic consumption, antimicrobial resistance, poultry health and farm performance, he said, with a target of cutting antimicrobial treatments by at least 20 percent without compromising productivity.

The ministry's agreement with ICARS follows its stated push to anchor livestock and poultry policy in research evidence, with the poultry sector among the country's main sources of animal protein and a heavy user of antimicrobials.