First World Antibiotic Awareness Week and awareness campaigns on prudent antibiotic use extended throughout the WHO European Region - presentation delivered by Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab, Regional Director, WHO Regional Office for Europe, on 16 November 2015

1. First World Antibiotic Awareness Week and awareness campaigns on prudent antibiotic use
expanded throughout the WHO European Region
First World Antibiotic
Awareness Week and
awareness campaigns on
prudent antibiotic use
extended throughout the
WHO European Region
Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab
Regional Director
WHO Regional Office for Europe

2. First World Antibiotic Awareness Week and awareness campaigns on prudent antibiotic use
expanded throughout the WHO European Region
WHO activities on antimicrobial resistance
2014
2015
2001
2003
2011
2013
2012

3. First World Antibiotic Awareness Week and awareness campaigns on prudent antibiotic use
expanded throughout the WHO European Region
Global antimicrobial resistance action plan –
strategic objectives
1. Improve awareness and understanding.
2. Strengthen knowledge and the
evidence base.
3. Reduce the incidence of infection.
4. Optimize use of antimicrobial agents.
5. Prepare the economic case for
sustainable investment.

4. First World Antibiotic Awareness Week and awareness campaigns on prudent antibiotic use
expanded throughout the WHO European Region
Central Asian and Eastern
European Surveillance of
Antimicrobial Resistance (CAESAR)
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe
Countries submitting data to CAESAR
Countries visited for CAESAR participation
Countries to be visited for CAESAR participation
Countries participating in EARS-Net
European Antimicrobial
Resistance Surveillance Network
(EARS-Net)
Extending surveillance throughout Europe

5. First World Antibiotic Awareness Week and awareness campaigns on prudent antibiotic use
expanded throughout the WHO European Region
Launch of CAESAR’s first annual report
• Network status
• Data collection and analysis
• Country-specific data
• Guidance and inspiration to
non-EU countries
• External quality assessment
results

6. First World Antibiotic Awareness Week and awareness campaigns on prudent antibiotic use
expanded throughout the WHO European Region
Comparable antibiotic resistance in EU and
non-EU countries in the European Region
• Switzerland: low resistance, similar to that in northern
Europe. Relatively high resistance (11%) to last-resort
antibiotic carbapenem in Acinetobacter spp.
• Turkey: resistance similar to that in south-eastern
Europe. Relatively high resistance to carbapenem in
E. coli (4%) as a result of a large hospital outbreak
• Belarus, Serbi, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia: high resistance, similar to that in
neighbouring EU countries, in Acinetobacter spp. and
P. aeruginosa.

7. First World Antibiotic Awareness Week and awareness campaigns on prudent antibiotic use
expanded throughout the WHO European Region
Surveillance of antimicrobial use
• In a Lancet report in
March 2014, WHO
released data on antibiotic
consumption in non-EU
countries.
• Data indicate a fourfold
difference in antibiotic
consumption across the
European Region.

8. First World Antibiotic Awareness Week and awareness campaigns on prudent antibiotic use
expanded throughout the WHO European Region
Action Plan Strategic Objectives
6. Promote innovation and research on new drugs
– International surveillance networks and information sharing on
promising research
– Active role in research for governments and
academic networks; national and international
task forces
7. Improve awareness, patient safety, and partnership
– Educational initiatives, behaviour change campaigns,
awareness programmes for health care providers
and the public
– Broad partnership at national, regional and global levels
From
European Antibiotic
Awareness Day
to
World Antibiotic
Awareness Week

9. First World Antibiotic Awareness Week and awareness campaigns on prudent antibiotic use
expanded throughout the WHO European Region
Extending awareness throughout Europe
• Work together with
ECDC at EU level.
• Involve WHO/Europe’s
non-EU countries.
• Engage celebrities.

10. First World Antibiotic Awareness Week and awareness campaigns on prudent antibiotic use
expanded throughout the WHO European Region
Materials
• Statements
• Infograph
• Website
• Video
• Press releases
• Presentations
Activities
• Country events
• EC/ECDC/EFSA/EMA/WHO Twitter chat
3 years of “extended” European
Antibiotic Awareness Day

11. First World Antibiotic Awareness Week and awareness campaigns on prudent antibiotic use
expanded throughout the WHO European Region
More than 40 European countries join
European Antibiotic Awareness Day

12. First World Antibiotic Awareness Week and awareness campaigns on prudent antibiotic use
expanded throughout the WHO European Region
The first World Antibiotic Awareness Week –
16–22 November 2015

13. First World Antibiotic Awareness Week and awareness campaigns on prudent antibiotic use
expanded throughout the WHO European Region
Antimicrobial resistance is everyone's business

14. First World Antibiotic Awareness Week and awareness campaigns on prudent antibiotic use
expanded throughout the WHO European Region
Five key campaign messages for the public
https://youtu.be/BtXaMy1Nvjs
1. Antibiotics don’t cure viral diseases like colds and flu.
2. Only take antibiotics that a health professional has
prescribed for you.
3. Always finish your course of antibiotics.
4. Never share antibiotics.
5. Wash your hands to prevent infections.

15. First World Antibiotic Awareness Week and awareness campaigns on prudent antibiotic use
expanded throughout the WHO European Region
European Region joins new World Antibiotic
Awareness Week
• WHO/Europe urges all countries in the European Region
to join the first “Antibiotics: Handle with Care” campaign
• Join the global community
in advocating for rational use.
• Take action to decrease antibiotic
resistance globally.