World Antibiotic Awareness Week, 18th to 24th November 2019

World Antibiotic Awareness Week, 18th to 24th November 2019

Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats facing us today and the overuse or misuse of antibiotics is making the problem worse. Without effective antibiotics many routine treatments will become increasingly dangerous. Setting broken bones, basic operations, transplants, even chemotherapy all rely on access to antibiotics that work. To slow resistance we need to cut the use of unnecessary antibiotics.

The CPA has been very active in this area over the last few years, joining the global effort to help tackle antimicrobial resistance and promote the important role that pharmacists can play.

This page is designed to aid World Antibiotic Awareness Week (18-24 November 2019) activities and provides tools to support implementation of the following suggested actions.

WAAW 2019 press release

We have issued a template press release for WAAW 2019 that you may find useful to adapt and disseminate by your own organizations.

We will be running a WAAW social media campaign all week and would appreciate your re-tweets, comments and likes on Twitter and Facebook. 

On Monday 18th Nov we will be joining the WHO, US CDC, ECDC, key partners and Member States and participating in a Twitter storm to send a unified message about taking action against antibiotic resistance. We invite you to join us and amplify the message by sending the following tweet at 9 AM EDT (Eastern Daylight Time/ UTC -4.00)/ (1PM GMT) on 18 November 2019:

Antibiotic resistance is one of the most urgent global health threats. Everyone has a role to play in improving antibiotic use to help fight #AntibioticResistance. Find out more via www.antibioticguardian.com. cc #AntibioticGuardian #CwPAMS 

More information https://antibioticguardian.com/twitter-chats-waaw-2019/ Pls RT

Tues 19th Nov is even more exciting, with the very important launch of the CwPAMS AMS app. More information to follow.

Social media activity will continue throughout the week. Follow us on Twitter #CwPharmacists and Facebook.

Please share widely with your friends, colleagues and networks!

Thank you very much in advance for your support.

Run your own social media campaign

The following text can also be used on social media. We recommend you use these together with your own hashtags. To increase engagement you should also try to add a suitable image where possible. If you link to the CPA on Twitter (@CW_pharmacists), we will endeavour to retweet and promote your WAAW activity where possible.

Text for social media

  • Action is needed to stop AMR – support us handle antibiotics with care #AntibioticGuardian #CWPharmacists #(Your own hashtag) #WAAW19 @CW_pharmacists

  • Join us and pharmacists around the #Commonwealth raise awareness of the risk of AMR and ensure urgent action is taken to ensure they are handled with care @CW_pharmacists #AntibioticGuardian #WAAW19 #CWPharmacists

  • Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats facing us today. You can help by becoming an #AntibioticGuardian #CWPharmacists #(Your own hashtag) http://bit.ly/ABGuardian @CW_Pharmacists

  • Know your numbers – data on rates of infection across the country is available on ____________ http://bit.ly/2xK9BnF #AntibioticGuardian #(Your own hashtag) #CWPharmacists @CW_pharmacists

  • I’m supporting the #AntibioticGuardian campaign to save some of our most precious medicines. Sign up here: http://bit.ly/ABGuardian #CWPharmacists @CW_pharmacists

  • Antimicrobial resistance is a global health threat – help us handle antibiotics with care #WAAW #AntibioticGuardian #(Your own hashtag) #CWPharmacists @CW_pharmacists [use an image here]

  • Visit the @e-Bug website http://www.e-bug.eu/ to access materials and tools for educating school children #AntibioticGuardian

  • Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats facing us today #AntibioticGuardian http://bit.ly/ABGuardian #(Your own hashtag) #CWPharmacists @CW_pharmacists

  • We risk losing some of our most precious medicines unless we work together. Sign up to be an #AntibioticGuardian: http://bit.ly/ABGuardian #(Your own hashtag) #CWPharmacists @CW_pharmacists

  • #AntibioticGuardian: Please retweet, sign up & save our #antibiotics http://bit.ly/ABGuardian #(Your own hashtag) #CWPharmacists @CW_pharmacists

Grab attention using images in your campaign

Here are images from the WHO WAAW campaign that can be used on social media. They are available for download (along with posters) here.

Antibiotic Guardian also provide images to use as part of your campaign. They can be accessed here.

Become an Antibiotic Guardian

Get committed and become an Antibiotic Guardian

Get committed and become an Antibiotic Guardian

Register your commitment by being an Antibiotic Guardian: http://antibioticguardian.com

Send us a picture of you and your Antibiotic Guardian certificate admin@commonwealthpharmacy.org

Tell your friends! Tweet about your commitment #AntibioticGuardian, or share on Facebook.

Make use of new and existing resources

We have a large number of resources including webinars available through our website

We have compiled some resources that you may find helpful in running your own AMR campaign.