Leadership collaborative formed on antimicrobial resistance

A new Veterinary Leadership Collaborative on Antimicrobial Resistance has been established in Ontario. This collaborative will provide leadership in the alignment of veterinary stewardship in the responsible use of antimicrobials by veterinarians.

Members of the collaborative are the College Registrar and CEO, the Chief Veterinarian of Ontario, the Dean of the Ontario Veterinary College and the CEO from the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association. Each of these organizations has an interest in ensuring veterinarians, and all those advising the food animal industries, are well informed on developments in antimicrobial use.

The collaborative will share information on local, provincial and national AMR initiatives, identify opportunities to coordinate stewardship initiatives, facilitate partnerships and linkages to promote awareness and solution seeking, and advise other lead organizations and individuals as appropriate. As well the group will promote communication within the veterinary community and its key stakeholders on AMR and veterinary stewardship.

The Collaborative has also received the CVO's recent report, "Setting an Action Agenda for Veterinary Stewardship of Antibiotic Use in Food-Producing Animals in Ontario" which outlines initiatives for Ontario veterinarians to create cross-species strategies and to steward antibiotic use in food-producing animals in Ontario.