Quantities of antibiotics for veterinary use imported into Rwanda between 2019 and 2021

Estimating antibiotic consumption in animals is fundamental to guiding
decision-making and research on controlling the emergence and spread of
antibiotic-resistant bacteria in humans, animals, and the environment.
This study aimed to establish importation trends of antibiotics for
veterinary use in Rwanda between 2019 and 2021. Data was 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. In total, 35,291.39 kg of
antibiotics were imported into 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 29.11, 24.33,
and 30.28 mg/kg were imported in 2019, 2020, and 2021 respectively. A
slight but not statistically significant decline in antibiotic importation
was noted in 2020 (p-value>0.05). Most of the imported antibiotics
were indicated to be used in food-producing animals (35,253.76 kg or
99.99% of the imported antibiotics). Tetracyclines (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. This study established a
generalized overview of the importation of antibiotics for veterinary use
in Rwanda. These results can serve as guidance for the control of
antibiotic misuse. They can be used to make a correlation between
antibiotic importation, antibiotic consumption, and the occurrence of
antibiotic resistance in the country.