The Responsible use of Medicines in Agriculture (RUMA) Alliance has launched an online survey to gather insights from vets, farmers and SQPs about the vaccines shortages that have affected the UK livestock sectors over recent years.
The RUMA survey – which can be accessed here – is open until Friday June 27. Responses are anonymous and RUMA Agriculture will publish anonymised headline findings to help support the ongoing focus on addressing vaccines shortages.
Vets, farmers and SQPs are all encouraged to share any vaccine supply insights by answering a set of questions that aim to build a picture of what supply challenges each sector has been facing, and the short and long term impacts of these disruption issues.
Vaccines play a key role in safeguarding the health and wellbeing of animals and limited or no supply, which is something that has been reported more frequently over the past few years by numerous livestock sectors, can have widespread implications on animal wellbeing. This could include an increase in antibiotic use to manage conditions that may otherwise have been prevented with vaccinations, RUMA said.
The vaccine production process is a time-sensitive biological process with potential for delays and variability. The supply chain is vulnerable to many factors which can include batch failures, too little supply being imported or developed to meet demand, sometimes recalls, increased demand to support disease outbreaks, as well as manufacturing challenges, including potential disruptions from Brexit.
Disruption
Cat McLaughlin, RUMA Agriculture Chair, said: “Vaccine shortages and disruption to supply, is not something that can be solved overnight.
“We know this is a complex area with many variables at play, and therefore we want to use the insights we gather from this survey to work directly with livestock sectors and the roles that work in the industry, to explore the best way to ‘cope with’ shortages until solutions can be found for the medium and long term.
“RUMA Agriculture, alongside many other industry stakeholders, has contributed to a number of meetings held recently by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) to address the concerns around the shortage of certain vaccines and we look forward to continuing to collaborate on this important issue moving forwards.
“What we do know is that delays in vaccinations can lead to an increased risk of disease outbreaks, and this can be a source of much worry for animal owners, SQPs and veterinary practices who are working hard to maintain the high standards of animal welfare that the UK is known for. We have listened to the concerns of our members and that’s why we are launching this survey – the insights from which will enable RUMA
“Agriculture to work directly with affected sectors to explore what management strategies can be developed to help ensure everyone is as prepared as they can be to respond to supply issues when they do occur.