Where SAVI came from. Where SAVI is headed.
Antimicrobials have revolutionized veterinary and human medicine, playing an important role in achieving positive health outcomes. Healthy animals provide safe meat, milk and eggs for human consumption and ensure the continued success of Canada’s farmers, producers and the agriculture and agri-food industry. However, scientific research has shown that use of these medications leads to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and must therefore be used judiciously in the treatment of humans, livestock and companion animals.
A Growing Concern
The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) has recognized the growing importance of this issue over the past two decades, but has most recently focused on improving antimicrobial stewardship within the veterinary community through the generation of antimicrobial use (AMU) data. These data can be used by veterinarians to establish benchmarks for use, target stewardship efforts within the veterinary community, and support credibility of the state of animal health management with Canadian citizens and with trading partners given the increasing international attention on AMR/AMU.
The Stewardship of Antimicrobials by Veterinarians Initiative (SAVI) is intended to both generate and share knowledge on prudent antimicrobial stewardship as well as pilot data collection of prescription and dispensing-based AMU information for the beef, poultry and swine sectors. The project was also designed to align with the multi-jurisdictional Pan-Canadian Framework on Antimicrobial Resistance (link:https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/publications/drugs-health-products/tackling-antimicrobial-resistance-use-pan-canadian-framework-action.html) and associated Action Plan.
Efforts to Date
The goal of SAVI is to provide veterinarians with the most current and critical knowledge and intelligence they need to make the best decisions possible with regard to antimicrobial use in support of their clients. As a key tenet of the project, SAVI is committed to the safeguarding of all collected data and to the confidentiality and privacy of participant information.
To date, SAVI has convened an Expert Advisory Group (EAG) of representatives from key veterinary species groups and sector stakeholder organizations and leveraged their expertise in both the design, planning and implementation of SAVI as well as the development of a communications and engagement approach for Canada’s veterinary community, their clients and other aligned groups.
With respect to the generation of knowledge and guidance, SAVI has upgraded its platform for the hosting of the CVMA Guidelines for Veterinary Antimicrobial Use and will be adding aquaculture and equine species groups to the existing guidelines that span six different species groups. SAVI will also be updating and revising the existing guidelines and exploring the use of alternative treatments, products and protocols to complement or optimize antimicrobial use.
From a data collection perspective, SAVI has worked with leaders within the veterinary community in generating initial data extracts to populate the test database and is in the process of developing automated electronic data transfer protocols to ease the burden on reporting by project participants as well as the crafting of customized reporting to deliver relevant information to veterinarians on an as-required basis.
If you would like to know more about the project, or are interested in participating, please contact us today.