Chronicle Editor
Farming issues with Mhlupheki Dube
LIVESTOCK farmers have probably noticed by now that one of their favourite and farmers drug, an oxytetracycline is disappearing from the shelves.
In fact, this past Friday I went through a number of veterinary drug shops and it was not available, save for the long acting (LA) version in only one shop. I will obviously not mention the drug by name because I do not want to invite litigation for me and this publication.
However, this is a very famous and very common drug among livestock farmers such that you will not meet any farmer who has bought livestock drugs in his/her life and does not know this drug. The reason for the sudden unavailability of this brand of oxytetracycline could not be established as all the shop tellers did not know, understandably so.
It is not within their scope to know about the drug manufacturing and wholesale side of things. Theirs is to sell what is in their shelves, period. Now, the import of my submission this week is not to lament the disappearance of this drug of first choice among livestock farmers, because I am neither their marketing officer nor a shareholder within the company, but to point out to farmers why it is important to acquaint yourself with active ingredients of any drug you are using.
This will help you to find an alternative drug of equal potency in terms of treating that the disease. Active ingredient refers to the actual chemical composition of a particular drug and this chemical composition shows you what is the treating agent in that drug.
This chemical composition will be the same for different brand names as long it’s the same family of drugs, for example oxytetracyclines. Also, the percentage composition will be the same, for example short acting oxytetracyclines are all written 10% oxytetracycline in whatever brand of the drug while long acting versions are 20%.
Knowing active ingredients by both the drug store tellers and livestock farmers will help the farmer to get an alternative brand which technically works the same despite the unavailability of the brand which they are familiar with. In one veterinary drug store, I witnessed a lady who I thought could have been served if the teller was more discerning than being just mechanical.
The lady asked for the famous oxytetracycline by name and of course it was not available. The drug store teller just said to the farmer “we do not have it” and the farmer walked away perhaps to try the next shop. She would eventually go through all the drug stores and find nothing, yet that teller could have just said we also have this brand which is the same drug as the one you are looking for, and leave the farmer to decide whether to take this alternative brand or proceed to the next shop.
It is good practice for drug sellers to make the farmers know the alternative drug available and then let them make the choice as to whether they can settle for the alternative or hunt for their preferred brand. The importance of the knowledge of the active ingredients cuts across all drugs and chemicals. It could be dosing remedies, as a farmer know the active ingredients and what parasites it kills, it could be acaricides, also know the active ingredients.
This helps like in such situations when the brand you are familiar with suddenly vanishes from the market, you can find an equally effective replacement. Manufacturers of certain brands may for one reason, or another decide to stop producing that brand line but other dosing remedies for example which have the same active ingredients and they can control the liver flukes which you are concerned with, are available.
You can then just pick the alternative and get the job done. My counsel, therefore, is for farmers to read the drug label and get familiar with the active ingredient of that brand you bought. Just teach to look for the drug by the technical active ingredient information as opposed to the marketing brand names.
The brand names available for the same disease may change from time to time but the active ingredient will remain the same. Heartwater disease will always be treated using an oxytetracycline drug but the brand name of that oxytetracycline will depend on who the manufacturer is. Let us not get stranded because we are searching using the brand name instead of the active ingredient.
UyabongaumntakaMaKhumalo. Mhlupheki Dube is a livestock specialist and farmer. He writes in his own capacity. Feedback [email protected]/ cell 0772851275
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