SAFE Project Launches Public Awareness Campaign on Responsible Antibiotic Use in Barcelona Pharmacies

To mark the start of World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, the team from the Superbug Awareness for Education (SAFE) project, coordinated by ISGlobal in collaboration with the University of Barcelona (UB), the pharmaceutical company Roche Diagnostics and the University of Naples. is launching a public awareness campaign to combat the urgent problem of antimicrobial resistance, which is related to the use and abuse of antibiotics.

World Antimicrobial Awareness Week is an initiative of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and this year runs from 18 to 24 November. All the activities planned for the week are designed to raise awareness about the problem of antimicrobial resistance and propose solutions and everyday actions that anyone can adopt. The aim of these efforts to promote better health habits is to slow the growing emergence of antimicrobial resistance, which is responsible for reducing the number of effective antibiotic treatments and pushing humanity closer to a post-antibiotic era.

One of the six advices of the informational leaflet: WASH YOUR HANDS THOROUGHLY. Use soap, lather for at least 40 seconds and repeat frequently throughout the day. It’s the best way to prevent infection.

The WHO introduced this initiative as a part of its global action plan at the 68^th World Health Assembly in 2015. One of its key objectives is to improve awareness and understanding of antimicrobial resistance through effective communication, education and training.

The aim of these efforts to promote better health habits is to slow the growing emergence of antimicrobial resistance, which is responsible for reducing the number of effective antibiotic treatments and pushing humanity closer to a post-antibiotic era

Against this backdrop, the SAFE project’s Barcelona-based team, led by Clara Ballesté-Delpierre of the Antimicrobial Resistance Initiative, worked with the University of Barcelona, the Pharmacists’ Association of Barcelona and high school students from PTT Sant Celoni to create an informational leaflet that will be distributed to 2,332 pharmacies throughout Barcelona province.

The contents of the leaflet were inspired by questions and comments put forth during a virtual co-creation workshop held in May as a part of the University of Barcelona’s Science Festival. More than 250 people took part in the workshop. The pharmacies that have signed up for the campaign will also be providing advice and highlighting areas for action on social media throughout the week.

What Do You Need to Know about the Antimicrobial Resistance from ISGlobal on Vimeo

And that’s not all. Drawing on the results of the co-creation workshop, the SAFE team has also created a ten-point educational video for the campaign (in Catalan and Catalan with English subtitles) that explains everything people need to know about antimicrobial resistance and the problems it entails.

A number of other activities are planned for World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, which coincides with Science Week and European Researchers’ Night 2020. These activities include virtual sessions with the Micro-Combat app, presentations featuring educational resources designed by SAFE programme participants and video capsules explaining how antibiotic research works. A full programme of activities is posted on the website of European Researchers’ Night 2020.

For more information, please visit the website of the SAFE project.