This week 45 information and advice sites have opened across the UK to make sure hauliers have everything they need to prepare for the end of the transition period.

The COVID-secure sites, which are located at key motorway service stations and truck stops across the UK road network, offer hauliers one-to-one training on the new ‘Check an HGV’ service and upcoming changes to border processes that come into effect at the end of the transition period. The training will be available in up to 13 languages to provide support to hauliers from a range of EU countries.

This roll-out follows the success of 5 pilot sites that were opened earlier this month. In just under 2 weeks, these sites have already helped almost 7000 visiting hauliers with 100s taking part in one-to-one training on the new processes.

Hauliers visiting any one of the 45 information and advice sites will be met by one of the 1000 staff members who will be on hand to answer questions and walk them through the documents they will need to keep travelling to, from and through Europe. Those who require additional information on how to use the ‘Check an HGV’ service will be able to make use of onsite offices for further training if required.

Alongside this, the Haulier Handbook has today (18 November 2020) been published on the GOV.UK website. The handbook, which will also be translated into 13 different languages, acts as a one-stop-shop to provide key information and advice on customs procedures, clearly setting out how hauliers can prepare themselves, their vehicles and their goods to continue travelling smoothly across the GB-EU border and help minimise disruption.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:

Hauliers play a vital role in keeping trade and businesses running on a daily basis, which is why we’ve put significant measures in place to ensure they’re prepared for the new customs procedures – including a multi-million-pound information campaign.

Opening these sites and publishing the Haulier Handbook is just another example of the work we’re doing to get hauliers border ready for the end of the transition period.

Road Haulage Association Chief Executive, Richard Burnett said:

With only weeks to go, it’s crucial that hauliers do everything they can now to prepare for new trading rules.

Deal or no deal, firms will have to undertake customs processes to continue moving goods across borders from 1 January.

These sites are part of a wider information campaign that prepares hauliers for the new customs procedures coming into place at the end of the transition period. The campaign, launched in October, utilises radio, press and digital advertising to ensure that hauliers have the correct documentation for each stage of their journey, reducing the risk of delays at the border.

The antimicrobial resistance (AMR) report, published at the start of World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW), 18 to 24 November, shows there were an estimated 65,162 AMR infections diagnosed in 2019, up from 61,946 in 2018.

E. coli remains the most common bloodstream infection, rising 14% from 68.3 cases per 100,000 population in 2015 to 77.5 in 2019.

AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to the drugs designed to kill them – it can cause serious complications, including bloodstream infections and hospitalisation.

Public Health England (PHE) is urging people to help tackle AMR by taking their doctor, pharmacist or nurse’s advice to only take antibiotics when needed.

The continuing rise in AMR bloodstream infections is a significant concern, rising by a third (32%) since 2015 – with AMR linked to 1 in 5 people with a key bacterial bloodstream infection. Antibiotic-resistant bloodstream infections have increased from 13,671 in 2015 to over 18,000 in this year’s report.

Antibiotics are vital to the treatment of bacterial infections such as pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis. They also help to protect against infection during chemotherapy, caesarean sections and other major surgeries.

However, they are sometimes used to treat coughs, earache and sore throats where they may have little or no effect.

When antibiotics are used and overused, the bacteria they are meant to kill can adapt and develop resistance, making these life-saving medicines ineffective when they are most needed.

The new report shows that antibiotic consumption continues to fall year-on-year. In 2019, total consumption fell to 17.9 defined daily doses per 1,000 people per day, compared to 19.4 in 2015.

This is driven by a continued decrease in general practices, where most antibiotics continue to be prescribed, as well as in the dental sector. GPs have been supported to reduce their prescribing through antimicrobial stewardship interventions and NHS improvement schemes.

Hospitals and other community settings have seen increases in antibiotic prescribing. This is because bloodstream infections, which must be treated with antibiotics, are on the rise and are generally treated in these settings.

Isabel Oliver, Director of National Infection Service at PHE, said:

We want the public to join us in tackling AMR – listen to your GP, pharmacist or nurse’s advice and only take antibiotics when necessary.

It’s worrying that more infections are becoming resistant to these life-saving medicines. Taking antibiotics when you don’t need them can have grave consequences for you and your family’s health, now and in the future.

WAAW aims to increase awareness of global antimicrobial resistance and to encourage best practice among the general public, health workers and policy makers to avoid the further emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections.

UK sales of antibiotics in food-producing animals have halved since 2014, the UK-Veterinary Antibiotic Resistance and Sales Surveillance (UK-VARSS) annual report, published today (Wednesday 18 November), has revealed.

The report shows that while sales of antibiotics increased slightly by 1.5 mg/kg to 31.0 mg/kg in comparison to the previous year, this was off-set by a reduction in use of the more potent critical antibiotics. UK veterinary antibiotic use in 2019 was the second lowest since the start of regular reporting, and the UK has one of the lowest levels in Europe.

Reducing unnecessary use of antibiotics in animals, especially Highest Priority Critically Important Antibiotics (HP-CIAs) – which are vitally important for human medicine – is key to reducing antibiotic resistance (AMR) and protecting the most critical antibiotics in human health. However, using them responsibly is crucial and necessary for the treatment of disease.

Between 2018 and 2019 there was a 21% drop in of use of HP-CIAs in food-producing animals, which account for 0.5% of total antibiotic sales. The UK has also seen an overall reduction in the level of resistance in E. coli from healthy pigs at slaughter since 2015 and resistance to HP-CIAs in E. coli is at very low levels.

AMR occurs when micro-organisms that cause infection change over time and no longer respond to medicines, making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread. The World Health Organization has declared that AMR is one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity.

Over the past 5 years the success of the UK’s significant reduction of antibiotic usage in animals has been achieved through collaboration between the government, vets and farmers.

A key example of this has been the Targets Task Force, a collection of specialised vets, chaired by the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture alliance (RUMA) which aims to promote high standards of food safety, animal health and responsible use of medicine in farm animals.

Peter Borriello, Chief Executive Veterinary Medicines Directorate said:

In the last five years we have worked closely with the farming industry and veterinary profession to achieve huge reductions in use of antibiotics in animals.

This demonstrates how farmers and vets have been working together to use antibiotics responsibly while safeguarding the health and welfare of our livestock.

The UK Government will continue to work with industry to focus on infection control, reducing the need to use antibiotics to treat disease and maintain the UK’s world leading standards in animal welfare.

Christine Middlemiss, the UK’s Chief Veterinary Officer said:

I am delighted that the UK continues to lead the way as one of the lowest users of antibiotics in livestock across Europe.

These findings are testament to the hard work of the UK’s farmers and vets to use antibiotics responsibly in order to tackle antibiotic resistance and protect our most critically important antibiotics in human health, while also reducing the burden of disease in animals.

The recently published 10th European Surveillance of Veterinary Antimicrobial Consumption report which, using 2018 data, revealed that the UK continues to have one of the lowest levels of veterinary antibiotic sales in Europe

The UK’s voluntary approach to collecting antibiotic use data and target setting, is an example of government, industry, and veterinary professionals working collectively to achieve effective antibiotic stewardship.

The government welcomes RUMA’s new Targets Task Force report also published today, which sets out new sector-specific targets for the UK livestock industry 2021-2024.

Further information:

• UK Veterinary Antibiotic Resistance and Sales Surveillance (UK-VARSS) report is published annually by Defra’s Veterinary Medicines Directorate. The report provides previous years’ data on the quantity of authorised antibiotics for use in animals (primarily livestock) sold in the UK, and results from surveillance programmes looking at antibiotic resistance in bacteria from animals.