World Antibiotic Awareness Week (WAAW)
Cardiff and Vale UHB will once again be supporting World Antibiotic Awareness Week (WAAW) which will take place between 18th and 24th November 2022. WAAW will run alongside other campaigns such as European Antibiotic Awareness Day (18th November) and Antibiotic Guardian which all aim to increase awareness of antibiotic resistance and to encourage best practice among the general public and health workers.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remains one of the biggest threats facing us today. The theme of this years WAAW is ‘Preventing antimicrobial resistance together’ – focusing on how everyone, not just healthcare professionals but the general public, has a role to play in preventing the spread of antimicrobial resistance.
What is the problem?
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remains one of the biggest global health threats facing us today.
AMR is happening here in Cardiff and Vale where we are seeing increasing numbers of patients with antibiotic resistant infections that are extremely difficult to treat.
The number of patients with C.difficile infection has also been increasing in CAV in recent years, reasons for which may be multi-factorial but overuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics during and since the pandemic is thought to be a significant contributing factor.
Only take antibiotics if prescribed for you.
Always complete the prescribed course and never share antibiotics with friends and family.
Always return any unused antibiotics to your local pharmacy
Don’t ask your GP for antibiotics for colds and flu - they will not work. Rest and seek advice from your local pharmacy.
Share campaign materials on social media
Across social media, in collaboration with Public Health Wales, we will be sharing messages about antimicrobial resistance and the safe disposal of antibiotics. Please support the campaign and share the messages widely on social media using the hashtags #WAAW #EAAD #AntibioticResistance, and #KeepAntibioticsWorking