A qualitative study on antibiotic use and animal health management in smallholder dairy farms of four regions of India

Figures & data

Figure 1. Showing the study sites.

Table 1. Description of the number of FGDs and KII`s conducted in Guwahati, Karnal, Bangalore, and Kolkata (September–October 2018).

Study areas	FGDs with dairy farmers	KII
		Veterinarians	Paravets
Guwahati	8	7	9
Karnal	8	6	8
Bangalore	8	8	8
Kolkata	4	3	4

Table 2. Core themes and sub-themes.

Core themes	Sub-themes
Animal health concerns	Common issues and diseases Causes of disease
Veterinary consultation	Consultation behavior of farmers Practices and responsibilities of veterinarians and paravets
Antibiotic use and knowledge on anti-microbial resistance	Practices of farmers related to medicines Antibiotic use by veterinarians, paravets and understanding on anti-microbial resistance
Zoonotic diseases	Knowledge and perception of farmers Knowledge and perception of veterinarians, paravets.
Vaccination	Vaccination activities and perspective of the farmers Vaccination activities and perspective of the veterinarians, paravets.

Table 3. Animal health-seeking options by the dairy farmers in the study areas in India and the legal standing on the use of antibiotics.

Source of treatment	Definition	Legal possibilities for each category of persons to prescribe antibiotics	Actual prescription made by each category of persons, regardless of legal constraints
Government veterinarian	University trained veterinarian working for state government.	Yes	Yes
Private veterinarian	University trained veterinarian not working for the government but runs his/her own private hospital.	Yes	Yes
Paravet	A frontline veterinary worker who holds a diploma in veterinary and animal husbandry	Yes, but are required to discuss the product and why they are prescribing it with the supervising veterinarian	Yes
Pharmacist	The shopkeeper running the pharmaceutical shop.	No	Yes
Quack/homeopathic practitioner	A non-veterinarian and untrained person treating sick animals	No	Yes
Dairy farmer	Dairy farmer keeping animals for milk production who sometime use old prescription to treat their animals.	No	Yes

Table 4. Availability of veterinarians and consultation behavior according to dairy farmers in Karnal, Kolkata, Bangalore, and Guwahati (September–October 2018).

Site	Access to veterinary services	Animal health seeking behavior of dairy farmers
Karnal	Low	Consult private veterinary practitioners (consultation fees of USD 3–13). Consult veterinarian on the phone if not able to come to farm. Use home remedies.
Kolkata	Low	Consult local pharmacists, or homeopathic practitioners, ‘quacks’. Consult veterinarians if available. Use home remedies.
Bangalore	High	Consult veterinarians from Karnataka milk federation (KMF) or state veterinarians. Use home remedies.
Guwahati	Low	Use ‘old prescriptions’; home remedies. Consult private veterinary practitioners. Consult paravet or veterinarian if problem persisted. Consult veterinarian on the phone if not able to come to farm.

Table 5. Engagement of veterinarians in the delivery of animal health services, in Guwahati, Karnal, Bangalore, and Kolkata (September–October 2018).

Study area	Number of years in veterinary practice	Number of veterinarians interviewed	Number of dairy animal cases reportedly handled in a week
Karnal	10–30 years	6	50–100
Kolkata	10–20 years	3	25–30
Bangalore	15–30 years	8	15–70
Guwahati	12–20 years	7	50–100

Table 6. Engagement of paravets in the delivery of animal health services, in Guwahati, Karnal, Bangalore, and Kolkata (September–October 2018).

Study area	Number of years in veterinary practice	Number of paravets interviewed	Number of dairy animal cases reportedly handled in a week
Karnal	10–15 years, 30–35 years	8	100–300 (animal treatment as well as vaccination, artificial insemination)
Kolkata	1–5 years	4	50–100 (animal treatment as well as vaccination and artificial insemination)
Bangalore	10–15 years	8	100–200 (just vaccination and artificial insemination. The paravets were not involved in treatment)
Guwahati	30–35 years	9	30–40 (animal treatment as well as vaccination, artificial insemination)