Proper use of veterinary drugs is essential for optimising animal health
status and improving animal productivity. Veterinary drugs have various uses
such as disease prevention, therapeutic treatment of disease and for growth
promotion.
However, farmers should take several considerations into account when
choosing veterinary drugs, namely indication, registration number, composition
and directions for use.
Antibiotics are widely used by farmers and are considered a miracle;
effective in fighting all kinds of infectious diseases plus as a growth
promoter.
Application of veterinary drugs in food producing animals must be done
carefully to prevent potential risks to public health in relation to possible
residues in animal products such as meat, milk and eggs.
Problem:
Recently there have been poultry problems in developing countries,
specifically in Indonesia, this has been due to tough competition in selling
veterinary drugs. A lot of animal health companies in Indonesia (local and
international) compete to sell their products. This leads to the misuse of
veterinary drugs by the poultry farmers especially in commercial broiler and
layer chicken.
This misuse happens because the farmers rarely adhere to the directions for
use. Plus the technical support of animal health companies often neglect
after-sales services, such as giving good information about the proper use of
the drugs.
This problem is so dangerous because the misuse of veterinary drugs, such as
over-dosing, will directly affect the chickens and have a potential risk to
humans because of residues that can end up in final products.
Solution:
I think the technical support of the pharma-companies should not only think
about profits and bonuses when selling their products, but also invest in
after-sales services.
This is very important because the majority of poultry farmers in developing
countries are people that have little education and easily administer medicines
the wrong way.
If you have experienced the same in your country, reply to this blog and tell
me how you solved this problem.