The fight against antimicrobial resistance: Everyone’s responsibility!

For the last 2 years, 18–24 November has been marked as World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (previously named World Antibacterial Awareness Week) by the Antimicrobial Resistance Tripartite, which consists of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The theme for the 2021 campaign is ‘Spread Awareness, Stop Resistance’, with the aim of encouraging healthcare providers and the public to adopt best practices in the treatment of infection in order to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

An antimicrobial is any medicine used in the treatment of infection, including antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals or antiprotozoals. Currently, there are around 700,000 AMR-related deaths globally each year, but it is estimated that this number will exceed 10 million per year by 2050 if the problem is not adequately addressed. [2] In line with this, the WHO has declared AMR as one of the top ten global public health threats facing humanity.