The World Health Organization is launching an awareness campaign on resistance to antibiotics. It is scheduled to take place from November 13-19 and its central goal will be to show the impact of resistance to antibiotics, which impairs an individual’s capacity to fight infection.

The goal of the global awareness week on the use of antibiotics is to increase education regarding this significant problem and to promote optimal practices among the public, health care professionals, farmers, food producers, veterinarians, and policy makers to prevent the continued increase and spread of resistance to antibiotics. The campaign seeks to convey the message that antibiotics should only be used to treat bacterial infections when prescribed by a health care professional or authorized veterinarian.

In addition, the campaign seeks to disseminate the following information:

• Resistance to antibiotics currently poses one of the greatest threats to world health, food safety, and development.
• Resistance to antibiotics can affect anyone, regardless of age or country of residence. Resistance to antibiotics is a natural phenomenon, although the improper use of these drugs in human beings and animals is accelerating the process.
• The number of infections which are becoming more difficult to treat due to the decreasing effectiveness of antibiotics —such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, and gonorrhea— is on the rise.
• Resistance to antibiotics prolongs hospital stays, increases medical costs, and increases mortality.