Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on the UK's 20-year vision for antimicrobial resistance; and what progress his Department has made on reducing the impact of resistance on animals.

The United Kingdom’s 20 year vision to contain and control antimicrobial resistance (antimicrobial resistance) by 2040, and the first in a series of five year national action plans (NAPs), both published in 2019, were co-developed with the devolved administrations, including the Welsh Government. The vision and NAP take a ‘One Health’ and whole of Government approach. The Welsh Government leads on one of the eight programmes within the NAP and sits on the UK wide delivery board, which provides oversight of delivery. Ministers last met to discuss progress in tackling the threat of antimicrobial resistance at a Ministerial round-table in May 2022. Working closely with the devolved administrations, Government has begun the process of developing the next AMR NAP, 2024-2029, which will be designed to maintain progress towards delivery of the 20 year vision.

The UK’s annual report on Veterinary Antibiotic Resistance, Sales and Surveillance (UK-VARSS 2021) showed that, in 2021, the UK recorded the lowest antibiotic use in food producing animals to date and that, since 2014, sales of veterinary antibiotics have reduced by 55% and sales of antibiotics critical in human health decreased for the seventh consecutive year, falling by 83%. Reflecting this, the UK has measured overall decreasing trends of resistance in healthy poultry and pigs since AMR monitoring began in 2014.