PHAGE EUROPE

We are a coalition of likeminded stakeholders who represent phages in industry, the scientific community and civil society. We want to realize the full potential of phages in Europe. Promoting the widespread use of phages will help us to address critical challenges of our time, including: Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), a major public health threat which is currently responsible for 33,000 deaths per year in the EU alone and adds an additional €1.5 billion to EU healthcare costs. This figure is forecast to rise to 10 million deaths per year by 2050. With a growing population, we will have 10 billion people on the planet by 2050, and we need a way to feed them. Greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural production currently account for 11% of GHG emissions and have risen 14% since 2000. These are just some of the bigger, headline grabbing topics, but the message is clear, we need to find a way to produce more food, more sustainably, with the same or fewer resources, whilst at the same time reducing antibiotic use. It is time to ensure that European farmers have access to the phage technology that has the potential to allow them to achieve these goals. In its Farm to Fork strategy, the European Commission outlined its ambition to make EU food systems healthier and more environmentally friendly, and has adopted an ambitious goal of decreasing the sales of antibiotics by 50% by 2030. In the animal nutrition sector, the European Commission also has a declared objective of creating a more sustainable food production system. Bacteriophage technology can be one part of accelerating the implementation of the One Health and Green Deal agendas and the objectives of countering antibiotic resistance, reducing waste, and promoting sustainable production.