The World Health Organization has just launched a global campaign to help countries in the fight against antimicrobial resistance, using the AWaRe tool which it developed in 2017. The AWaRe initiative classifies antibiotics into three categories (Access, Watch and Reserve) to  encourage a more judicious approach to prescribing second- and third-line antibiotics and “last resort” antibiotics, while encouraging the use of first-line antibiotics to treat common infections. The idea is to prevent the spread of antimicrobial resistance by raising awareness of which antibiotics should be used in each case.

AWaRE is part of the WHO List of Essential Medicines and is aimed at the health care profession as well as policy- and decision-makers. It aims to increase the global consumption of antibiotics in the Access group, used for the most common diseases, to at least 60% by 2030 and reduce the use of antibiotics most prone to creating resistance from the Watch and Reserve groups. “Watch” antibiotics are those that must be available at all times as part of a country’s healthcare system while “Reserve” ones are those considered as a last resort, both more likely to generate antimicrobial resistance.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said antimicrobial resistance is one of the world’s greatest health risks and “threatens to undo a century of medical progress”. He called on countries to adopt AWaRe and reduce antimicrobial resistance by reserving the use of certain antibiotics for those diseases which are hardest to treat.

The Regional Workshop on the Control of Antimicrobial Resistance was held in Argentina in early June, where delegates discussed the progress made by the National Commission against Antimicrobial Resistance (Co.Na.CRA). as well as measures to strengthen national and regional networks working in the area of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).