ESCMID is proud to participate in this year's World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW)! This WHO initiative aims to increase awareness of global antimicrobial resistance (AMR) 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. 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.

Additionally this year, WAAW 2021 will feature a global colour campaign to raise awareness, and we encourage you all to participate. Light blue was selected as the colour of AMR Awareness, representing health across sectors, and the multisectoral collaboration required to address this universal threat. The global community is encouraged to ‘Go Blue’, by bringing light blue to their online presence, physical communities and workplaces throughout WAAW (18-24 November) with an emphasis on 24 November. You can find out more on the WHO website here.

Antimicrobial resistance has affected much more than just how healthcare professionals treat patients and the ways in which we conduct research as scientists in Infecitous Diseases and Clinical Microbiology. To this end, our ESCMID Study Group for Antimicrobial Stewardship (ESGAP) have collected short interviews and stories from ESCMID members across Europe and beyond to tell us how AMR impacts their work, and the lives and outcomes of their patients and their personal reflections on solutions, challenges, and things we can do differently. We collected all of thesubmissions and put together an interactive map to highlight the global nature of this crisis and show how AMR impacts different parts of the world differently.

Check out the interactive map here.

ESCMID is a proud participant in Value-Dx and stand with them in participating in this great initiative.They have released a new graphic just in time for WAAW 2021. It highlights the ever continuing arms race of evolution between humans and bacteria as they develop antimicrobial resistance. Furthermore, the inappropriate use of antibiotics accelerates antimicrobial resistance which means that even as humans evolve, superbugs will always be faster. We are reminded to only take antibiotics under proper medical supervision.

Value-Dx campaign page

European Antibiotic Awareness Day (EAAD) is a European health initiative coordinated by ECDC. It provides a platform and support for national campaigns on the prudent use of antibiotics in the EU/EEA and take place each year across Europe on 18 November. Learn more about the campaign on the official ECDC website here

On 18 November, 10:00 – 11:30 CET, ECDC will host a digital EAAD event with the theme; “in times of COVID-19, don’t forget about antimicrobial resistance. Stay united to preserve antimicrobials”. It will feature high-level keynote addresses as well as a scientific panel addressing the theme. The event is free of cost, open to everyone and organised within the frame of ECDC’s ESCAIDE conference. Registration is now open on the ESCAIDE website here.

We are supporting the Antimicrobial Resistance campaign for 2021 alongside MediaPlanet and Global Cause. The campaign features exclusive content aiming to showcase how you can tackle AMR through addressing sociocultural inequities from key thought leaders including Dr Esmita Charani our very own ESCMID Study Group for Antimicrobial Stewardship (ESGAP) Science Officer and Dr Nathan Peiffer-Smadja the 2021 TAE Outstanding Trainee Awardee!

Visit the website to read the article and learn more here.