13 November 2018 – World Antibiotic Awareness Week is taking place from 12 to 16 November 2018 in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, under the theme “Think Twice. Seek advice.”
The WHO Regional Office kicked off the Week, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with a press conference on Monday 12 November 2018 at the Regional Office premises. The event aimed to highlight the immense problem of antimicrobial resistance as a threat to global health and encourage representatives from various media outlets and other professionals to continue raising awareness of the threat posed by antimicrobial resistance.
Dr Rana Hajjeh, Director of the Department of Communicable Disease Prevention and Control, WHO Regional Office, delivered opening remarks on behalf of Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean. Mr Nabil Gangi, FAO Deputy Regional Representative for the Near East and North Africa in June delivered remarks on behalf of his organization.
Dr Maha Talaat, WHO Regional Adviser for Antimicrobial Resistance, shared regional progress in implementing the “Global action plan on antimicrobial resistance”, and Friederike Mayen, Senior Livestock Development Officer, shared the animal health sector’s progress in preventing the spread of antimicrobial resistance following adoption of the multisectoral One Health approach.
Fourteen journalists won awards for the 2017 media competition.
In addition, winners of WHO’s video for behavioural change competition came from Egypt, Jordan and Sudan. The objective of this initiative was to mobilize young people to raise awareness of antimicrobial resistance by building their capacity in identifying, prioritizing and changing behaviours that are driving antimicrobial resistance. The initiative included training on how to use smart phones to create video.