Antibiotics: A New Platform for Data Exchange Between Veterinarians and Government Agencies Is Launched

The Veterinary Council, meeting at its conference in Nancy, has just announced the creation, on November 10, 2017, of the Adelie association, tasked with managing the exchange of data regarding antibiotic prescriptions between the veterinary profession and the Direction générale de l'alimentation (DGAL). Six representative veterinary professional organizations* make up the new association.   Adelie’s mission is to establish an IT platform dedicated to veterinarians’ “business” processes, covering all of their activities, in coordination with the DGAL. To this end, its six members are making available not only their knowledge of veterinary practice but also their technical and scientific resources. Since the decree “regarding the reporting of sales data for veterinary medicinal products containing one or more antibiotic substances” entered into force on April 1 , the DGAL sought to establish a system for reporting to its departments the quantities of antibiotics dispensed by authorized practitioners of veterinary medicinal products. This necessitated data exchange between veterinarians’ computer systems and those of their counterparts. These exchanges, which require the implementation of several dedicated IT components for their management, are part of the development of the DGAL’s information system. A cooperation agreement was therefore established between the DGAL and the Adelie association to set up a specific IT system for managing, reporting, and accessing data, intended for both veterinarians and other stakeholders required to report antibiotic sales. This system, named Calypso, will be linked to the DGAL’s information system and will take into account its requirements for data exchange with external partners. Adelie will therefore be responsible for designing and implementing this new veterinary IT system in collaboration with the administration. This project is co-funded by the DGAL and professional veterinary organizations. * Adelie’s founding members: the Federation of French Veterinary Unions (FSVF), the National Union of Private Practice Veterinarians (SNVEL), the French Association of Companion Animal Veterinarians (AFVAC), the French Equine Veterinary Association (AVEF), the National Society of Veterinary Technical Groups (SNGTV), and the National Council of the Veterinary Order (Cnov).