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Time for Antimicrobial Awareness



Time for Antimicrobial Awareness

Sarah Nidal Salameh, MD
Associate Consultant in Adult Infectious Diseases
Communicable Diseases Centre, Hamad Medical Corporation
Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar

 

Appropriate use of antibiotics is increasingly becoming a top priority in everyday practice as more and more healthcare systems adopt robust stewardship programs. This is in line with national and international guidance on the judicious use of antimicrobials. Members of the public are being encouraged to better inform themselves regarding this issue as everyone has a role to play in appropriate antimicrobial use.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared antimicrobial resistance as one of the top 10 global health threats facing humanity. This includes its threats towards food security and development as both the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials in humans and animals drive the wide-spread prevalence of drug-resistant pathogens.  

Without effective antimicrobials, advances made in modern medicine including surgery, transplant and cancer care will become stunted in the face of ineffective prevention and treatment of infectious complications.

We are headed towards a future where infections and even minor injuries will result in longer hospital stays, greater financial burdens as well as poorer clinical outcomes. We are already seeing a growing number of infections such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, gonorrhea and salmonellosis become more challenging to treat owing chiefly to antimicrobial resistance.

With few new antimicrobials in the pipeline, it is imperative we address this challenge with greater awareness and understanding, acquire evidence base information on antimicrobial resistance through surveillance and research and optimize our use of antibiotics.

Lastly, preventative measures including effective sanitation, hygiene and infection control as well as investing in vaccination programs should be routinely adopted to help reduce the burden of infections and spread of drug-resistant disease.

 

The theme of the 2021 World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) ,18-24 November 2021,  is ‘Spread Awareness, Stop Resistance’ and the overarching slogan remains "Antimicrobials: Handle with Care" and a key campaign on the 24 November  ‘Go Blue for AMR’ . In support of the WAAW 2021 aim of raising awareness of antimicrobial resistance worldwide through encouraging best practices among the general public, health workers and policy makers to slow the development and spread of drug-resistant infections, Health Care Practitioners (HCPs) in Qatar are invited to visit the WHO webpage https://bit.ly/3mH6THX for ideas of how to support the WAAW 2021 campaign and assist in stopping resistance.

 

References:

- WHO – Antimicrobial resistance

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antimicrobial-resistance

- CDC – World Antimicrobial Awareness Week

https://www.hamad.qa/EN/Hospitals-and-services/Communicable-Disease-Center/News-and-events/World-Health-Days/World-Antimicrobial-Awareness-Week/Pages/2020.aspx