NEW DELHI : India’s antimicrobial resistance problem is expected to get much worse because its consumption of antibiotics through animal sources is projected to nearly double during 2013-2030, according to a new global study on antibiotic use in farm animals.The study, by a team of international researchers, recommended regulatory caps on antibiotics in farm animals, limits on meat intake and user fees on the price of veterinary antibiotics to tackle this burgeoning issue globally.According to the World Health Organisation , antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the ability of a bacteria, virus and some parasites to stop antimicrobials like antibiotics, antivirals and antimalarials from working against it. This makes standard treatments ineffective and infections persistent and likely to spread to other people.India is expected to see an 82% increase in consumption of antibiotics in “food animals” from 2,633 tons of antibiotics in 2013, showed a new study published in scientific journal ‘Science’.The country is currently the fourth largest consumer of antibiotics in food animals globally, after China , United States and Brazil, showed the study, titled “Global solutions to reduce antimicrobial use in food animals”.Food animals are animals reared for their meat.“The country has a huge unregulated livestock sector that freely uses these drugs which are easily accessible,” said Ramanan Laxminarayan, Director, Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy (CDDEP) and one of the study’s authors.Antibiotics are used for growth promotion of livestock, according to him. For instance, two-thirds of poultry farms in Punjab use antibiotics for this purpose and such farms also reported high levels of multidrug resistant bacteria that could easily escape into the environment , he said.“We are losing medically important antibiotics at a very fast pace,” Laxminarayan said.Capping use of antibiotics in farm animals at 50 mg per kilogram of animal slaughtered could cut India’s consumption of antibiotics in food animals by 15% by 2030, Laxminarayan told ET.Implementing a user fee of 50% on the price of veterinary antibiotics could reduce consumption by 46% here, he told ET.Globally, regulatory caps would reduce consumption of antibiotics by 64%, limiting meat intake to the equivalent of one fast-food burger per person daily could reduce consumption by 66%, stated a release by CDDEP.Imposing a 50% user fee on the price of veterinary antibiotics could reduce consumption by 31%, it added.The latest findings and recommendations come on the heels of another study by the WHO that revealed the world was running out of antibiotics to combat AMR.AMR is “jeopardizing” global health security and is of particular concern in countries like India, where the burden of infectious disease is high and healthcare spending low, according to WHO.The country has among the highest bacterial disease burden in the world and antibiotics have a critical role in limiting morbidity and mortality here, it stated.