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Comment by Arbalest | Hacker News Reader

Antibiotic resistance is the medical equivalent of Climate Change. It hasn't gotten anywhere as much exposure as climate change though, and even with the amount climate change has gotten, it still isn't seeing enough action.

I just wish I could be more optimistic about the whole situation, but decades of advertising in cleanliness conflating clean with germ free is coming back to bite us. Both from antibacterial agents for infections, and more generally for surface cleaners.

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Apparently factory farms (i.e. chickens, pigs, turkey, cows, etc.) are the largest abusers of antibiotics.

> Of all antibiotics sold in the United States, approximately 80% are sold for use in animal agriculture; about 70% of these are “medically important” (i.e., from classes important to human medicine). Antibiotics are administered to animals in feed to marginally improve growth rates and to prevent infections ...

Antibiotics Overuse in Animal Agriculture: A Call to Action for Health Care Providers https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4638249/

Factory farms are also on the lists of biggest sometimes overlooked contributors to climate change. It's feels a lot like there needs to be major agriculture reform.

1. Don't buy meat from anywhere where Antibiotics is used in healthy animals.

2. Vote to ban the practice.

There is no step 3.

3. Lobby for an effective ban in countries like China, where antibiotics are widely used (especially in aquaculture) and the law as written isn’t always enforced.

This is one of those border-hopping problems which, like CFC emissions, may require external pressure for some countries to address.

While I'm not suggesting not lobbying for an effective ban in China, this comment seems to make China out to be almost a sole offender. Antibiotics are widely used in most countries, particularly in the US, and even in Europe (despite the EU ban on usage for growth purposes). Their usage is increasing at scary rates in China, Brazil, etc., but that doesn't discount that it's still very high in western nations.

Agreed. This has improved recently in the EU: the EU law was given significantly more teeth less than a year ago (should be in force within 2 years now). Let's hope the EU will actually enforce it. The new law also bans imports to the EU, so if it's followed it's almost exactly what I'm asking for (ban of routine use + import ban). https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/oct/25/european-par... (Law voted through 2018, with 3 years introduction. Hopefully use will decline before that to comply before it becomes law)

This needs to happen in the US as well. China is a big exporter so even if there is no domestic pressure, import bans should make a difference.

Yes, totally agreed. China was just top-of-mind after the recent news about CFC-detecting satellites, the publication of their results, and the authorities’ subsequent remedial action.

Who exactly is buying meat from China also? From my time in Vietnam the locals I knew shunned Chinese meat imports and recommended not buying it even though it was slightly cheaper, many simply don't trust it and there was a few scandals.

Easier: 1. Don't buy meat.

That's a quitter's attitude.

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