ReAct highlights from World AMR Awareness Week 2024!

2024-12-16

In World AMR Awareness Week 2024, ReAct launched initiatives for stronger action on antibiotic resistance by raising awareness, promoting responsible antibiotic use, and inspiring action across healthcare, agriculture, and communities. Highlighting the urgent need for global action, ReAct also joined WHO’s "Go Blue for AMR" campaign.cExplore ReAct’s activities below, starting with key highlights.

ReAct: Go Blue for AMR!

ReAct staff went go blue for AMR during World AMR Awareness Week and in social media, newsletter and parts of the website.

Community skit for 1500 congregates

In Zambia, the Matero community became a beacon of proactive health advocacy during the recent World AMR Awareness Week on November 24th. A passionate group of ten members from the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Awareness group, trained by ReAct, captivated their local community with a unique and impactful initiative. They presented the skit for for about 1500 congregants at Matero United Church of Zambia in Lusaka. The skit will focused on common antimicrobial resistance drivers such as misuse and overuse of antimicrobials.

Swedish preschools lead the way

The preschools in Vindeln, Gävle, Vingåker, and Säffle represent successful pioneers from Antibiotic Smart Sweden’s national initiative, which has engaged thirty preschools across the country.

The certification program for healthier preschools is developed by Antibiotic Smart Sweden in partnership with the Public Health Agency, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden and ReAct Europe.

Community champion in Bolivia sparks local action on antibiotic resistance through storytelling

Among the colorful streets of El Alto, Bolivia, with gravity-defying buildings that contrast with the freshly baked bread and cultural richness of its people, a fascinating story has begun to blossom – of the transformative power of community in tackling antibiotic resistance.

It all began in 2022 when Patricia Nogales, a passionate community leader, decided to share her story about Periferia, a little piglet that was being fed with waste at a local garbage dump. But what seemed like a simple story became a powerful symbol of awareness and change. Periferia was not only fed scraps; she was also routinely given antibiotics, a detail that Patricia knew had much deeper implications.

Advancing national priorities for AMR mitigation: Highlights from the Delhi roundtable

As part of World AMR Awareness Week, ReAct Asia Pacific, in collaboration with the Indian Medical Association (IMA), hosted a high-level roundtable in Delhi, India. The event aimed to align global commitments outlined in the 2024 UNGA Declaration on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) with national and local priorities. By fostering dialogue among diverse stakeholders, the roundtable sought to identify actionable strategies for combating AMR in India and beyond.

Guest in podcast episode: The role of communities in tackling the AMR challenge

Listen to the pod-episode on Youtube. 

Hear from Dr Andrea Caputo Svensson, ReAct Europe, in a podcast hosted by the European Health Management Association, as they discuss the global issue of AMR, covering its causes, public health impacts, and the importance of community-driven initiatives to address antibiotic resistance and AMR. The discussion will also cover insights from communities and civil society solutions and the global campaign From People to Leaders: Act on AMR NOW!

Empowered Communities lead AMR response in Latin America and the Caribbean

The fourth Meeting of Empowered Communities of Latin America and the Caribbean was held on Friday, November 22, as part of World AMR Awareness Week.

The webinar, organized by PAHO Washington and ReAct Latin America, brought together representatives from seven countries in the region to discuss, reflect, and share experiences and strategies to address antibiotic resistance and AMR. Under the slogan “Let’s Educate, Let’s Promote, Let’s Act Now,” the importance of community work in building sustainable solutions to AMR was highlighted.

Empowering patient advocacy and enhancing antimicrobial stewardship

As part of World AMR Awareness Week, Ananthapuri Hospital in Kerala, India, hosted an engaging session focused on the importance of patient advocacy, healthcare leadership, and practical strategies to address antibiotic resistance and AMR.

23 October, Uppsala, Sweden. Community engagement workshop for students. Workshop for 22 international students at the Master’s program in Infection Biology from a global perspective at Uppsala university, Sweden.The students ranked challenges to community engagement and discussed activities to support community-friendly and inclusive narratives to improve understanding of antibiotic resistance. Many creative ideas were raised including the “antibiotic free dinner” – inviting community members to a free meal to discuss matters of importance to them and antibiotic resistance.

13 November – 20 December. Compic strip competition. Jóvenes y Ecosistemas Latinoamérica launched the open competition JE-RAM COMIC CHALLENGE. This initiative aims to engage Latin American children, adolescents, and young adults in raising awareness and promoting scientific knowledge about the prevention and control of drug resistance and antimicrobial resistance in the region.

Participants were invited to create a comic in a free format, contributing to this cause through a creative literary work. Submissions and promotional activities will took place between November 13 and 28, 2024. The deadline for submitting entries was December 12, 2024.

The winners was officially announced on December 15, 2024, through Jóvenes y Ecosistemas Latinoamérica’s and ReAct Latin America’s public media platforms. Awards will be distributed by December 20, 2024.

16 November, India. Youth Engagement. Address the students at Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce, Delhi with the support of Health Volunteers India.

18-19 November, Kenya. Youth Competition. ReAct Africa and the Ministry of Health Kenya hosted the annual Youth Innovation Competition in Kenya. This year, the top entries was announced at the National World AMR Awareness Week Launch and Scientific Symposium in Nairobi. The winners received cash prizes, trophies and certificates.The launch and symposium was the culmination of weeks of planning meetings which ReAct Africa has been part of, and has specifically been engaged with as part of the Youth platform sub-committee and the Scientific Symposium sub-committee.

19-20 November, Bolivia. Sample analysis. Blood and stool sample collection campaign in 150 children from Senka Schools, El Alto, for nutrition and parasite analysis. Research Institute of the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz.

20 November, Bolivia. Class room training. “The silent pandemic of AMR in Bolivia. consequences of the inappropriate use of antibiotics in animal food production and zoonoses”. Classroom training organized by the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz, and the Medical College of Public Health.

21 November. Webinar. The webinar was co-organized by WHO SEARO and ReAct Asia Pacific with the theme: Your Voice, Your Impact: Global Youth Consultation on AMR.

21 November, Ecuador. Encounter of children on rational use of antibiotics and the microbial world. Through games, children from INEBHYE School in Cuenca, studied AMR and its different facets: the use of antibiotics on food production and human health. This activity waw part of several encounters with the Alforja Educativa, one the education projects of ReAct Latin America. In the near future, there will be a virtual exchange of experiences between Ecuadorian and Argentinian children.

21 November, Ndola, Zambia. Youth Engagement Zambia. ReAct spoke on Youth Engagement at the World AMR Awareness Week Youth Symposium hosted by Zambia National Public Health Institute and WHO Zambia.

22 November, Ndola, Zambia. Youth Engagement Zambia. ReAct Africa in collaboration with Zambia National Public Health Institute hosted an AMR awareness meeting  in Ndola, Zambia. This meeting targeted150 students from 3 universities.

23-24 November, India. Engage medical students. Indian Medical Association arranged a Medical Students network Youth Event. ReAct Asia Pacific hosted a session on AMR and Youth Engagement for medical students IMA-MSN East Zone Conclave in Orissa, India.

22-24 November, India. Youth Forum. Dr Salman Khan, ReAct Asia Pacific joined as a speaker at the AMR and Youth Forum – Middle East.

Forum for students in Peru. The National University of the Altiplano in Puno hosted a forum for students and faculty on AMR as a global socio-environmental health issue. The forum emphasized the importance of understanding how the misuse of antibiotics in human healthcare and animal farming contributes to the spread of AMR through water, waste, and food.

19 November. Webinar. Antibiotic Smart Sweden, where ReAct Europe is one of the partners. Presentations and panel discussions. Meeting was held in Swedish.

19 November. Stakeholder meeting. ReAct Europe joined the Antibiotikaforum day for the Swedish National coordination function for AMR as the node is a member. The coordination group is led by the Swedish Public Health Agency and the Swedish Board of Agriculture.

20 November, India. AMR Conclave 2024. Strengthening One Health Action Plan. The event will was organized by the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, Thrissur, Kerala Veterinary & Animal Sciences University and ReAct Asia Pacific.

20 November, Bolivia. Webinar. Webinar on the impacts of the inappropriate use of antibiotics in intensive animal husbandry. Students, professors and deans of the Public University of El Alto participated.

20-21 November, Nyeri, Kenya. Antimicrobial Stewardship Support. ReAct Africa supported and collaborated with the Nyeri County Antimicrobial Stewardship Interagency Committee (CASIC) to conduct a midterm review of its One Health AMR workplan during this year’s World AMR Awareness Week activities.

To culminate the county WAAW engagement, ReAct Africa participated in an awareness-raising session during the health talks sessions in the planned Peniel Evangelistic Football event, to raise AMR awareness and understanding on AMR and the need for appropriate antimicrobial use amongst the community.

20-21 November, Rosario, Argentina. The campaign “For a Future without Untreatable Infections: Let’s Learn, Care and Act.” This campaign aims to raise the social awareness about AMR and promote responsible use of antibiotics, especially among young people, families and health professionals. It included an interview in local radio, publication of an article in a newspaper, dissemination of educational content in social channels and a community activity with an information-stand in a public space. This campaign involved the Instituto de Salud Socioambiental of the Medical Sciences of the National University of Rosario, the Medical Union of Santa fe province and ReAct Latin America.

21 November. High-level intersectorial dialoge Colombia. Colombia’s Intersectoral Technical Roundtable on Antimicrobial Resistance will bring together key government entities, including the Ministries of Health and Social Protection (MSPS), Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR), and Environment and Sustainable Development (MADS), along with their affiliated agencies. Supported by PAHO/WHO and FAO, the featured an inter-sectoral dialogue on AMR with representatives from Colombian social organizations.

The dialogue aimed to raise awareness about AMR and encourage responsible practices across human health, animal health, agribusiness, and environmental sectors, aligning with the “One Health” approach.

21 November. Training on AMR and good use of antibiotics for health personnel. Jacha Auditorium of the Autonomous Municipal Government of El Alto.

As part of the III Symposium of Scientific Research 2024 at the National University of Loja (UNL), the training workshop titled “Alforja Educativa: School Health and the Microbial World – Child-to-Child Strategy: A Bridge Between Health and Education” was held.

This workshop was designed for health professionals, educators, students, social organizations, communicators, and artists. It aimed to foster an interdisciplinary approach to addressing antibiotic resistance.

21 November. Community Health Fair Bolivia. This at the entrance of the Health Center La Ceja, El Alto city. Tents with information about AMR, handing out of flyers on good antibiotic use, collection of expired antibiotics, presentation of an artistic batucada to encourage community participation.

21 November. Multi-sectoral dialogue Bolivia. Impacts of the use of antibiotics in intensive animal husbandry. presentation of the book “Hagamos historia, contando nuestras historias” on AMR, exhibition of the Photoresistance Project (stories about AMR told through photographs). Participants include meat traders from El Alto, the meat food surveillance network INLASA and the municipality of El Alto. This event was organized by Autonomous Municipal Government of El Alto, Health Action Front, Jacha Auditorium of the Autonomous Municipal Government of El Alto, and supported by ReAct Latin America.

21 November. Webinar. “Super Bacteria: The Invisible Challenge of the 21st Century” with several university speakers.

22 November, Bangalore, Karnataka, India. Multi-stakeholder meeting. ReAct hosted a multi-stakeholder meeting in Bangalore, Karnataka in collaboration with Bangalore Bio Innovation Center.

23 November. Online Session. ReAct Asia Pacific hosted an awareness session for the Indian Space Research Organization on the theme “Educate, Advocate, Act Now”.

26-28 November, Putrajaya, Malaysia. World Organization Animal Health Regional Representation for Asia and the Pacific (WOAH RRAP) hosted a Regional Workshop for Focal Points for Communication in Asia and the Pacific. Vida Parady, ReAct Asia Pacific was a speaker and facilitator. The workshop was of WOAH’s global program of capacity building for WOAH Delegates and WOAH National Focal Points. Vida Parady, ReAct, delivered the training on Community engagement: working with media.

ReAct partnered with ITN Business to improve equitable access to effective antibiotics. ReAct was proud to announce its participation in the just released Independent Television News (ITN) Business program, Defending Our Health: Unravelling Antimicrobial Resistance, which aims to address the urgent global threat of antibiotic resistance. The program was released the day before the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AMR in New York on September 26th, underscoring the need for a unified global response. Read more and access the program and the ReAct film.

27-28 November. There was an artistic exhibition on responsible use of antibiotics, prevention of infectious diseases and AMR in a public space inside the Central University. This campaign was supported by Excellensis, Pegasus and ReAct Latin America networks

29 November, El Salvador. Second Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance from the One Health approach: Bacteria as seeds of life. The meeting consisted of a symposium, with presentations by researchers who will provide data on AMR to raise awareness about this global health challenge among medical, veterinary and biology students. The meeting was supported by the University of El Salvador, and its Biology Department and is organized as part of the project “Antimicrobial Resistance: Microbiome, Animal Health and Food Safety” implemented in El Salvador between the Foundation for Economic Development and Environmental Restoration (FUNDESYRAM) and ReAct Latin America.

21, 27-29 November, Ecuador. “Art for Life: United on Bacterial Resistance” campaign. The Central University of Ecuador, in collaboration with the Ecuadorian Corporation for the Development of Research and Academia, launched an initiative to raise awareness about bacterial resistance. This was done through digital and face-to-face meetings and by involving the university community throughout the country.