{"id":5349,"date":"2026-02-05T18:05:03","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T17:05:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/en\/?p=5349"},"modified":"2026-02-17T16:42:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T15:42:49","slug":"fewer-antibiotics-better-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/en\/fewer-antibiotics-better-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Fewer antibiotics, better health?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Agrotecnio\u00a0and the\u00a0UdL\u00a0Department of Law\u00a0analyse\u00a0the impact of antibiotic reduction in dairy farms<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The\u00a0project\u00a0also\u00a0includes\u00a0an\u00a0outreach\u00a0video\u00a0to\u00a0bring\u00a0research\u00a0closer\u00a0to\u00a0society<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Agrotecnio&nbsp;and the Department of Law of the University of Lleida (UdL) are promoting a joint research project to&nbsp;analyse&nbsp;the impact of the political and regulatory framework that encourages the reduction of antibiotic use in high-production dairy cow farms in the province of Lleida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The project\u00a0\u201c<em>Impact of antibiotic reduction policies on the health and welfare of dairy cows<\/em>\u201d\u00a0is led by researchers Irina Garc\u00eda-Ispierto, from\u00a0Agrotecnio\u00a0and the\u00a0UdL, and Laura\u00a0Salamero, a researcher at\u00a0Agrotecnio\u00a0and the\u00a0UdL\u00a0Department of Law and has a clear interdisciplinary focus. The aim is to assess not only whether reducing antibiotic use is effective, but also what consequences it has for animal health and welfare, veterinary professional practice, and the economic sustainability of livestock farms. The researchers focus both on animal health\u00a0and on the practical and legal implications faced by veterinary professionals and\u00a0producers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The research is based on the hypothesis that the implementation of regulations requiring a reduction in antibiotic use may lead to unintended changes in veterinary practices. These changes could negatively affect animal health and welfare and, by extension, public health, as well as have an adverse impact on the economic viability of farms. For this reason, the project\u00a0seeks\u00a0to provide a critical, evidence-based perspective to assess whether current policies truly achieve a balance between reducing health risks and preserving animal welfare and sector sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The work is framed within the\u00a0One Health\u00a0concept promoted by the World Health Organization, which understands human, animal, and ecosystem health as interconnected dimensions. In this context, reducing antibiotic use in livestock farming is essential to curb the emergence of bacterial resistance, one of the main threats to public health worldwide. However, the researchers stress that such\u00a0a reduction\u00a0cannot be applied uncritically and that its real effects in the field must be assessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The\u00a0farm\u00a0veterinarian, a\u00a0key\u00a0figure<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the\u00a0central points\u00a0of the project is the analysis of the role of farm veterinarians, a key figure in the implementation of European regulations at state and regional level. These professionals assume major responsibility for the control,\u00a0recording,\u00a0and justification of antibiotic treatments, which has\u00a0substantially changed\u00a0their daily practice. The legislative change has generated debate within the veterinary sector, both due to the increased bureaucratic burden and the legal implications involved. Such is the level of regulatory conflict that a new amendment to Royal Decree 666\/2023, which regulates veterinary medicinal products, is currently under way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The research also examines how treatment protocols have evolved. Whereas antibiotics were previously often used preventively, they can now only be administered following a clear diagnosis\u00a0and\u00a0documented justification. This change has reduced overall antibiotic consumption, but at the same time raises new challenges, such as the risk of delaying necessary treatments or increasing animal suffering in certain clinical situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A\u00a0video\u00a0to\u00a0bring\u00a0research\u00a0closer\u00a0to\u00a0the\u00a0public<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\u00a0project\u00a0includes\u00a0the\u00a0production\u00a0of\u00a0an\u00a0outreach\u00a0video\u00a0that\u00a0clearly\u00a0and\u00a0accessibly\u00a0explains\u00a0the\u00a0issues\u00a0associated\u00a0with\u00a0regulating\u00a0antibiotic\u00a0use\u00a0in\u00a0dairy\u00a0cow\u00a0farms.\u00a0Through\u00a0testimonies\u00a0from\u00a0researchers,\u00a0veterinarians, representatives of\u00a0the\u00a0sector\u00a0and\u00a0public\u00a0administration,\u00a0the\u00a0video\u00a0shows\u00a0the\u00a0complexity\u00a0of a challenge\u00a0that\u00a0is\u00a0not\u00a0only\u00a0scientific\u00a0or legal,\u00a0but\u00a0also\u00a0social\u00a0and\u00a0economic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:60px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Menys antibi\u00f2tics, m\u00e9s salut\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/C6NqW6oq_ik?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Agrotecnio&nbsp;and the Department of Law of the University of Lleida (UdL) are promoting a joint research project to&nbsp;analyse&nbsp;the impact of the political and regulatory framework that encourages the reduction of antibiotic use in high-production dairy cow farms in the province of Lleida. The project\u00a0\u201cImpact of antibiotic reduction policies on the health and welfare of dairy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5350,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-noticies"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5349"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5353,"href":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5349\/revisions\/5353"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}