United to preserve antimicrobials
Background
World Antimicrobial Awareness Week is a major global annual campaign from 18 to 24 November 2020 designed to raise awareness of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and encourage best practices among the general public, health workers and policy-makers to mitigate the risk of AMR. It also aims to raise people’s understanding of AMR in the context of evolving health challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The misuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics (e.g., Azithromycin) during COVID-19 could lead to accelerated emergence and spread of AMR.
The WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean is urging all countries of the Region to join the campaign and implement different activities in the framework of the “One Health” approach, as AMR is threatening human and animal health, food security and agricultural production. Estimates show that AMR is increasing both worldwide and regionally to high levels that also threatens to reverse health gains made in the last few decades.
The 2020 slogan for World Antimicrobial Awareness Week is “Antimicrobials: Handle with Care”, with the theme “United to preserve antimicrobials”
The strategy for this year’s campaign has 3 innovative objectives:
- It will focus on antimicrobials rather than on antibiotics to emphasize the evolving threat of resistance to antifungals, antiparasitics, and antivirals, in addition to antibiotics.
- Adoption of the “One Health” approach” in addressing AMR covers all the increasing risks threatening human and animal health and the environment in a holistic approach to promote health, prevent disease and develop a better response to AMR. This will be done in collaboration with the tripartite partners, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), and WHO.
- Integrating control of AMR with other communicable diseases facing resistance to treatment, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria will provide a more inclusive picture of the problem.
Campaign material
