CLEVELAND (February 27, 2014) – Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman will introduce a resolution on Monday, March 17,  2014 to support a statewide and national ban on nontherapeutic uses of antibiotics in livestock production.  The resolution is part of the Healthy Cleveland Initiative which was launched in the spring of 2011 and aims to reduce health disparities in the city of Cleveland and improve quality of life for every resident. 

 

Low doses of antibiotics are routinely fed to livestock for growth promotion and disease prevention to compensate for crowded, unsanitary conditions in a practice known as “nontherapeutic use”.  This practice creates ideal conditions for the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria which spreads to retail meat and causes foodborne illness outbreaks. 

 

The issue of antibiotic resistant bacteria has been a concern for health officials since the 1960s.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that at least two million Americans suffer from antibiotic resistant bacterial infections each year and twenty-three thousand Americans die from those infections.

 

“Antibiotic resistant bacteria are a pressing public health issue and it is about time that we begin educating the public and making changes in the regulation of the practices that cause these issues,” said Councilman Cimperman.  “We must begin banning the practice of nontherapeutic use of antibiotics on a state and national level to slow the growth of antibiotic resistant infections and improve the health of Americans.” 

 

WHAT:  Resolution in support of a statewide and national ban on nontherapeutic uses of antibiotics in livestock production

 

WHEN:  Monday, March 17, 2014, 7pm

 

WHERE:  Cleveland City Council Chambers, Cleveland City Hall, 601 Lakeside