Background

Estimation of antibiotic consumption in animals is very important to guide decision-making and research related to the control of emergences and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in humans, animals, and the environment. This study aimed at to establishing consumption trends of antibiotics for veterinary purpose in Rwanda between 2019 and 2021. Data were collected from the Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority’s database. Quantities of imported antibiotic active ingredients were computed using the information extracted from the issued import licenses. These quantities were subsequently adjusted per animal biomass.

Results

In total 35 291.39 kg of antibiotics were consumed in Rwanda between 2019 and 2021 with an annual mean of 11 763.80±1 486.91 kg. The adjustment of imported quantities of antibiotics per animal biomass revealed that 29.82 mg/kg and 25.22 mg/kg were consumed in 2019 and 2020 respectively. A decline in antibiotic consumption was noted in 2020 (p-value> 0.05). Most of the imported antibiotics were indicated for food-producing animals (35 289.36 kg or 99.99% of the imported antibiotics). Tetracycline (17 768.65 kg), followed by sulfonamides (7 864.99 kg) and aminoglycosides (4 071.12 kg) were the most imported antibiotics over the studied period. It was noted that 78.93% of the imported antibiotics were categorized as highly important antimicrobials for human medicine.

Conclusion

This study establishes a generalized overview of the consumption of antibiotics for veterinary use in Rwanda. Results can serve as guidance to control antibiotic misuse and to make correlation between antibiotic consumption and occurrence of antibiotic resistance.