Reframing livestock antimicrobial use as a global public good

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Public Health
• Global Health Security
• Agricultural Economics

Background:

• Global antimicrobial use in livestock is increasing, exacerbating antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and reducing drug effectiveness.
• Current antimicrobial stewardship efforts are primarily national and voluntary, failing to address the transboundary nature of AMR.
• Antimicrobial effectiveness is framed as a global public good due to non-rivalry, non-excludability, and transboundary spillovers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To reframe antimicrobial effectiveness in livestock systems as a global public good.
• To identify governance and market failures driving antimicrobial overuse.
• To develop an integrated stewardship framework addressing global public good characteristics.

Main Methods:

• Application of global public good theory within a One Health perspective.
• Analysis of governance and market failures in livestock antimicrobial use.
• Development of a multi-pillar stewardship framework.

Main Results:

• Antimicrobial overuse stems from misaligned local incentives and global welfare losses.
• Aggregating national stewardship actions is insufficient due to transboundary resistance dynamics.
• An integrated framework with four pillars is proposed: international governance, economic instruments, financing, and adoption enablers.

Conclusions:

• Antimicrobial effectiveness in livestock is a global public good requiring international cooperation.
• The proposed integrated stewardship framework addresses governance and market failures.
• The framework aims to balance global AMR control with essential animal health needs, supporting productivity, food security, and public health.