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This deliverable present results for Task 6.3 “ex-ante impact assessment” which was conducted in five countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy and Vietnam) and aims at improving the construction of ROADMAP initiatives toward prudent antimicrobial use (AMU) by designing them in a strategic and participatory manner and laying out the mechanisms through which impacts will be generated. Task 6.3 activities were conducted between October 2020 and June 2022 through personal interviews, surveys and workshops. The process of ex ante impact assessment involved building a desired vision for the future, identifying problems preventing the desired impacts from happening, and designing strategies to address these problems. Activities sometimes underwent delays because of Covid-19- related restrictions but led to the construction of a large variety of impact pathways for ROADMAP initiatives. In Belgium, the main initiative was centered around an action lab to better establish the advisory role of veterinarians in the pig sector, whereas in Denmark a lot of efforts were put into discussing the link between AMU and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in a context of very low AMU and progressing towards mutual realisation and improved communication/sharing of experience. In France, an action lab will be set up to build combined indicators that report in a simple and optimal way information about the health of animals, their well-being, the use of antibiotics and bacterial resistance to antibiotics. Activities in Italy focused on updating the guidelines on the use of antibiotics in pig farms elaborated by the public health services of the Emilia-Romagna region, whereas stakeholders in Vietnam worked towards establishing training/awareness-raising programs for both animal/drug professionnals and consumers. The desired impacts these activities aimed to contribute to shared some common grounds: decreased or improved AMU, improved animal health and welfare, maintained (or increased) incomes for farmers and veterinarians, reinforced resilience of animal production and improved communication towards consumers. The next step of WP6 activities will be to perform a transversal analysis of these impact pathways and establish generic recommen

The overall aim of ROADMAP is to foster transitions towards prudent use of antimicrobials (AMs) in animal production in different contexts to manage antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Prudent antimicrobial use (AMU) will be achieved by enhancing antimicrobial decision-systems along the food and drug supply chains. ROADMAP will focus on supporting animal health and welfare through prevention and health promotion actions. AMR is recognized as a significant threat to global public health and food security. Overuse and improper use of AMs in many parts of the world contribute to the emergence and spread of AMR. Although human and animal health require AMs, it has been estimated that two thirds of the future AMU growth worldwide will be in animal production. Improving the management of AMU in farm animals is therefore a critical component of dealing with AMR and optimizing production in the livestock sector. Nevertheless, the variety of contexts of AMU in the livestock sector is a major challenge to managing AMR. There is no “one-size-fits-all” solution to improve AMU and strategies must be contextually developed (for instance, strategies used in the Danish pig industry are difficult to adapt and adopt in the French free-range poultry farming). Successful solutions must be combined and tailored to the production systems and the social and economic context in which they operate. ROADMAP will meet three general objectives, in line with the EU AMR Action plan: i) Rethink AM decision-systems and animal health management; ii) Develop options for encouraging prudent AMU in animal production; iii) Engage all actors in the food and drug supply chains in fostering a more prudent use of AMs.

In animal production, changes in antimicrobial use (AMU) are needed to prevent antimicrobial resistance (AMR). However, there is no “onesize-fits-all” solution to encourage and facilitate prudent AMU. Methods, strategies, actors, and monitoring systems must be contextually developed. Many decisions, actions and physical circumstances are involved when the use of antimicrobials should be changed, therefore altered AMU requires changes at several levels. From reviewing the scientific literature on interventions to change AMU, some key factors for successful change were identified.

ROADMAP - Rethinking of Antimicrobial decision-systems in the management of animal production

ROADMAP - Rethinking of Antimicrobial decision-systems in the management of animal production

Summary on current practices and methodologies of Thematic Networks