Context
World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) is celebrated from 18-24 November every year.
What is antimicrobial resistance?
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AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites (microbes) no longer respond to medicines, making common infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.
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Many factors have accelerated the threat of AMR worldwide—including overuse and misuse of medicines in humans, livestock and agriculture, as well as poor access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene.
Resistance
- Resistance is the ability of a bacterium to work against the antagonising effect of an antimicrobial agent, upon reproduction prevention or microbicidal (an agent that destroys microbes).
- The development of resistance to antimicrobial agents in microbes often develops as a result of unnecessary and inappropriate use of antimicrobials.
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The increasing threat
- Covid-19 has brought AMR into the spotlight.
- The WHO has declared antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as one of the top 10 global health threats.
About the Week
- Antibiotic Awareness Week is an occasion to celebrate the miracles of science and medicine that improve and sustain our lives, including innovations in antibiotics that have transformed the treatment of illness.
- The 2021 theme, Spread Awareness, Stop Resistance, calls on One Health stakeholders, policymakers, health care providers, and the general public to be Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Awareness champions.
