World Antibiotic Awareness Week takes place every November to promote global education on antibiotics, how they should be used, and the growing risks of antibiotic resistance. But for now, global awareness of all these issues remains relatively low.

World Antibiotic Awareness Week (WAAW) is being recognized this year from Nov. 18 to 24. Launched in 2015, the campaign “aims to increase global awareness of antibiotic resistance and to encourage best practices among the general public, health workers and policy makers to avoid the further emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance,” according to WHO. On 18 November, Vytenis Andriukaitis, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, began the series of events organized on the occasion of the World Antibiotic Awareness Week by delivering the opening speech at the 12th edition of the European Antibiotic Awareness Day in Stockholm. The event organised by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), with the support of the European Commission gathers stakeholders and professional organisations and will be marked by the presentation of a study on health workers’ knowledge and attitudes about antibiotics. Commissioner Andriukaitis said: “Since last year’s edition we have made some progress on the fight against antimicrobial resistance with, in particular, the adoption, in December 2018, of the new EU legislation on veterinary medicines and medicated feed. But we must step up our efforts as antimicrobial resistance will remain, for decades to come, a global threat: it is estimated that consequences of inaction could lead to 10 million deaths by 2050.” Every year, World Antibiotic Awareness Week is celebrated by governments, health facilities, schools and communities across the globe. The campaign highlights best practices among the general public, health workers and policy makers to help stop the further emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? In 2015, the Sixty-Eighth World Health Assembly, endorsed the Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance, calling for a dedicated global campaign to raise public awareness and understanding of antibiotic resistance. World Antibiotic Awareness Week (WAAW) takes place every November to promote global education on antibiotics, how they should be used, and the growing risks of antibiotic resistance. But for now, global awareness of all these issues remains relatively low. Antibiotics are drugs that fight infections that are caused by bacteria by killing them off or by making it harder to grow and multiply. Antibiotics are very useful in the medical field, but the overuse and misuse of them can lead to antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the biggest challenge facing the food sector, including animal feed. The use of antibiotics in animals and human medicine is a very important challenge for public health. Every year, more than 30.000 people die in the EU because there are no antibiotics to counteract the infections. AMR refers to the ability of microorganisms to withstand antimicrobial treatments. Animals, including food-producing animals, are considered to be sources of resistant bacteria, which may arrive from contaminated feed.