In recognition of the need to raise renewed popular and political awareness of, and commitment to, tackling the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization (WHO), are happy to announce the overarching slogan for the World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) 2020 campaign: ‘Antimicrobials: Handle with care’.
The Tripartite Organizations conducted a stakeholders’ consultation meeting from May 27 to 29, 2020 to revamp WAAW and make it everyone’s business. The meeting was held virtually and convened a broad range of stakeholders from all regions representing diverse sectors, such as the animal health, human health, environment and food sectors, as well as youth, civil society, international organizations, UN agencies and academia. The consultation meeting provided a wealth of information in developing an impactful WAAW campaign for 2020 and beyond.
The outcomes of the meeting included changing the scope of WAAW from "antibiotics" to broader "antimicrobials" and embracing the Tripartite Executive Committee’s decision to fix WAAW dates to 18 to 24 November annually, starting with WAAW 2020. Expanding the scope of the campaign to all antimicrobials will facilitate a more inclusive global response to antimicrobial resistance and support a multisectoral One Health Approach with increased stakeholder engagement.
The World Antimicrobial Awareness Week aims to increase awareness of global antimicrobial resistance 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. Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites resist the effects of medications, making common infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death. Antimicrobials are used to fight diseases in humans, animals and plants and include antibiotic, antiviral, antifungal and antiparasitic medicines.The theme for the human health sector for WAAW 2020 is “United to preserve antimicrobials".
A global action plan to tackle the growing problem of resistance to antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines was endorsed at the Sixty-eighth World Health Assembly in May 2015. One of the key objectives of the plan is to improve awareness and understanding of antimicrobial resistance through effective communication, education and training.
Campaign materials will be available in due course on the WAAW Campaign Page.