Chair, committee members, and guests, I am pleased to be here today representing the companies that manufacture and distribute animal medications.
Animal medications are intended to keep animals healthy, and they have a secondary role in limiting human exposure to zoonotic diseases, diseases that can be transferred from animals to humans. Many of the companies I represent have a human side to their business, so it goes without question that while our members want the medications they develop to remain effective for a long time, they also do not want to develop antimicrobials that would compromise or jeopardize the effectiveness of the animal medications that they develop for the human side of the industry.
Joining me here today is Dr. John Prescott, a professor of pathobiology at the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph, Ontario. He joins me since he's an expert in the area of bacteriology and will address any technical questions arising from the committee members. He certainly has had a long-term interest in this area, and he has been a part of many of the discussions that have occurred here in Canada and internationally for many years.
Topics that I will be discussing include the role of the veterinary drugs directorate, a division of Health Canada, in doing pre-market assessment of our products; and post-marketing controls by veterinarians in the veterinary drugs directorate of the Canadian Public Health Agency as well as by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. I will also talk about the size of the animal health industry and about agriculture's contribution to resistance.
One control I won't be talking about is producer quality assurance programs, the farm-to-fork programs, because I know my colleagues around the table will be discussing those.
VDD, within Health Canada, has pre-marketing controls over the antimicrobials sold in Canada for use in companion and production animals. The VDD review process involves examination of every aspect of a drug from human and animal safety to trials demonstrating a drug's quality and efficacy.
In my formal brief you can see a diagram that briefly outlines the review process. I want to draw your attention to the fact that it's thorough and stringent, and the important part of the review is the human safety component, which ensures that no harmful residues of drugs enter the food chain. There is also an assessment of the potential impact of resistant bacteria being ingested by humans from animal products because of the use of antimicrobials in food-animal production. There is a difference between residues and residue avoidance in antimicrobial resistance.
VDD approves drugs for four uses: the treatment of animals infected with disease, the prevention of disease within herds and flocks, the control of diseases in the case of outbreaks within a herd or flock, and, lastly, the enhancement of growth and feed efficiency.
Many think that in-feed use is equivalent to growth promotion. That is really not the case. It confuses a drug's use with its route of administration. All four uses, including therapeutic use, can be administered via feed or water, and this in many cases is the only practical way to administer medication to large herds and flocks.
The VDD regulates every aspect of labelling, including the species it is intended for, the use, the dosage, and the warnings and cautions. Extra label provisions do exist for the use of antimicrobials whereby the veterinarian directs the use of a medication under the situation of having a valid veterinary client-patient relationship.
Post-marketing controls also exist beyond the VDD. Veterinarian-directed use of antimicrobials is a fact of life, and most new antimicrobials are prescription. Due to concerns about antimicrobial resistance, I would point out that the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association has developed prudent-use guidelines for the use of antimicrobials in food-animal medicine. It is very much a concern of the veterinary profession. The monitoring for adverse events is an ongoing effort of the veterinary drugs directorate within Health Canada.
The public health agency looks toward evaluating trends on the use of medication and for resistance trends in food, animals, and humans. Last, CFIA tests to ensure no harmful residues enter the food chain.
I just wanted to point out that we have limited growth in the animal health industry. There was a 1.1% increase in the total kilograms of active antimicrobials distributed from 2008 to 2009 by our members. Total sales of medications in 2009 amounted to $590 million, and that compares to $21 billion on the human side. Meanwhile, growth on the human side has doubled from 2000 to 2009. That's in sales.
There's no question that antimicrobial resistance is a serious public health threat. It is a complex matter, with no one solution. A 2000 survey published by a group of medical experts estimated that the animal contribution to overall human resistance problems is less than 4%. That small proportion was attributed to the transfer of resistant bacteria from food to humans following use of antimicrobials in food animal production. In my presentation I outlined the chain of events that would have to be traversed by bacteria to move from animals to humans.
In closing, the animal health industry and animal agriculture, along with the veterinary profession, take the issue of antimicrobial resistance very seriously. Discussions on the issue have been occurring within the sector for decades, and measures have been taken to drive prudent and judicious use of antimicrobials.
Thank you.