World Antimicrobial Awareness week

European Antibiotic Awareness Day (EAAD) takes place on Wednesday 18 November 2020, in partnership with the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (18 – 24 November 2020). EAAD is a European initiative that aims to raise awareness about the threat to public health of antibiotic resistance, and the importance of prudent antibiotic use. The latest available data confirms that across the European Union the number of patients infected by resistant bacteria is increasing and that antibiotic resistance is a major threat to public health.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General , World Health Organisation

World Antimicrobial Awareness Week is a campaign by the World Health Organisation to highlight the public health challenge of antimicrobial resistance. The theme for the human health sector for WAAW 2020 is “United to preserve antimicrobials". World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) aims to increase awareness of global antimicrobial resistance and to encourage best practices among the general public, health workers and policy makers to avoid the further emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections. What is AMR? Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the ability of a microorganism (such as bacteria) to grow/survive in the presence of an antimicrobial (such as antibiotics) that should be capable of killing it. In other words, the antibiotic no longer works to treat the bacterial disease. The terms antimicrobial and antibiotic are used interchangeably but in general when we talk about AMR, we are referring to antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotics are natural or synthetic substances that inhibit the growth of or destroy bacteria. The discovery of antibiotics has revolutionised health care and prolonged life expectancy across the globe. In animal health antibiotics are vital tools to protect animal health and welfare, productivity, and facilitate the production of safe, nutritious food. What is the significance of AMR for the Irish Agrifood sector? The use of antibiotics in the farming sector is coming under increasing scrutiny in light of the very real public health threat of AMR. The misuse and overuse of antibiotics in both human healthcare and in animals has the potential to contribute to development of AMR globally. Prudent use of antibiotics can help stop resistant bacteria from developing and help keep antibiotics effective for the use of future generations.

The One Health concept recognises that human, animal and environmental health are all interconnected. The One Health concept is acknowledged by the World Health Organisation and the European Commission as key to tackling AMR. The complexity of the AMR issue is highlighted by the fact that humans and animals share the same environment, are exposed to the same general families of bacteria, and are treated with the same suite of antibiotics. Then the fact that bacteria can pass from animals to humans and vice versa with the environment acting as a potential reservoir of resistant bacteria underlines the need for such a One Health approach.

Reducing the quantity of antibiotics used in both human and animal healthcare is key to tackling AMR. Farmers have a key role to play by working to keep antibiotics effective for future generations through improving animal health and reducing levels of antibiotic usage on farms. When it comes to animal health, prevention is always better than cure with knock on benefits in terms of reducing antimicrobial usage and mitigating the risk of AMR development. Measures must be taken to keep animals free from disease through good animal husbandry and management practices. There is guidance available for farmers that has been developed collaboratively by the industry as part of Ireland’s National Action Plan to address AMR, iNAP.

Link to publications and iNAP

Every sector of society has a role to play in becoming aware of how we use antibiotics now and into the future. The current global pandemic has highlighted the impact of not having effective medicines to treat disease. The gatekeepers of antibiotics are doctors and veterinary practitioners who have a responsibility to control their supply via prescription. However we all need to play our part to reduce our use of these precious resources to ensure their efficacy for future generations.

Wednesday 18th November at 2pm webinar

Webinar on European Antibiotic Awareness Day

Register for the webinar here

DAFM will be highlighting the following 5 videos from the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Awareness Campaign which ran from 7 September 2019 – 15 February 2020. The messages and content of these videos is still highly relevant.

All 13 videos (and accompanying articles) can be viewed at:

Videos