News and Opinions  –  2015

ReAct Antibiotic Awareness Week 2015

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2016-11-10

10 November 2015

antibiotic-awareness-week-2015

During World Antibiotic Awareness Week (16-22 November) ReAct arranges a series of activities. These include exhibitions, launch of a gardening toolkit, seminars, media conferences, cyclo ride, workshops, presentations, radio shows and many more. Countries covered by these activities are Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Malaysia, East Timor, Thailand and Ecuador. See list below and contacts for more information. Remember – handle antibiotics with care!

Short articles about some of ReAct’s activities during World Antibiotic Awareness Week

News during World Antibiotic Awareness Week: NEXT STEPS FOR ADVANCING DIAGNOSTICS FOR ACUTE FEVER

News during World Antibiotic Awareness Week: REACT AMONG AUTHORS OF PRESTIGIOUS LANCET SERIES “ANTIMICROBIALS: ACCESS AND SUSTAINABLE EFFECTIVENESS”

ReAct activities during World Antibiotic Awareness Week: LESSONS 4 LIFE IN KENYA

ReAct activities during World Antibiotic Awareness Week: CHILREN AUTHORS OF MICROBIAL STORIES ON THE RADIO IN ECUADOR

ReAct activities during World Antibiotic Awareness Week: Launch of “Gardening for Health Kit” in Thailand

ReAct activities during World Antibiotic Awareness Week: CYCLORIDE FOR ANTIBIOTICS IN ECUADOR

Highlight from World Antibiotic Awareness Week: COLOR AND GAIETY MARKED THE ACTIVITIES IN THAILAND

Please visit us on Facebook (/reactgroup) or Twitter (@reactgroup) for more updates.

Kenya

Media/Journalists Workshop: ReAct in partnership with GARP (Global Antibiotic Resistance Partnership) Kenya will bring together individuals working in the media to learn, discuss and create strategies to spread the correct message about antimicrobial- and antibiotic resistance to as many people as possible.

17 November
Launch of World Antibiotic Awareness Week. There will be help at Naivasha County Referral Hospital – with representatives from ReAct and other non-governmental organisations (NGO:s), WHO, Ministries of Health and Ministries of Agriculture, Livestock & Fisheries and other stakeholders.

17-20 November
The 4th IPNET Conference organized in Partnership with IPNET, GARP and Ministry of Health.
This year’s theme is: Implementing Infection, Prevention and Control (IPC) Practices for a Safer world.
Read more at: http://ipnetkenya.org/

16-22 November
Members of ReAct will make presentations on antimicrobial- and antibiotic resistance.
12 November, 9-10 am: University of Nairobi – Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. http://vetmedicine.uonbi.ac.ke/
12 November, 9-10 am: Gertrude’s Garden Children’s Hospital: http://www.gerties.org/
16 November, 2-4 pm: Kenya Medical Training College: http://www.kmtc.ac.ke/
19 November, 8-9 am: Naivasha District Hospital: http://www.ehealth.or.ke/facilities/facility.aspx?fas=15280
20 November, 8-9 am: Naivasha District Hospital: http://www.ehealth.or.ke/facilities/facility.aspx?fas=15280

21 November
ReAct Africa Regional Meeting: Members of ReAct Africa Network will host a meeting to discuss the 2015-2016 priority areas and action planning.

New and revised ReAct materials will be launched and distributed during world antibiotic awareness week.

21–22 November
Antimicrobial Stewardship Workshop. The workshop will target policy makers, administrators, clinicians, pharmacists, laboratory personnel, nurses and veterinary practitioners directly or indirectly involved in antimicrobial use. Recent advances and strategies on antimicrobial stewardship will be discussed by renowned speakers. Sessions will be highly interactive and practical to address antimicrobial stewardship challenges. Read more at: http://ipnetkenya.org/

Numerous Countries in Africa
– TV, radio and newspaper features and antimicrobial- and antibiotic resistance Awareness & Action Messages and resources will be distributed online and through SMS in several countries 1 week before, during and 1week after World Antibiotic Awareness week.

– Consume Action Forum & 4 Radio Talk Shows (Zambia)

– Media/Journalist Workshop (Zimbabwe)

Lessons 4 Life
The ABR (antibiotic resistance) Dialogues are a series of informal and participatory discussions about antibiotic resistance, followed by practical ReActions to save antibiotics.

Step 1: Awareness: The ABC’s 16 November–16 December 2015
Step 2: Awareness in Action: Protecting Others Beyond Lessons, 16th January-16 April 2016
Step 3: Advocacy & Accountability:Concrete Change 4 Today & Tomorrow, 16 March-November 2016

– Lessons, Making Pledges, Hand-washing Marathons, Signing Petitions.

– Discussion on radio by youth leaders from across Africa about antimicrobial- and antibiotic resistance and practical steps that they can take across the continent to save antibiotics.

24 November
Members of ReAct will make presentations on antimicrobial- and antibiotic resistance.

1-2pm: Mbarara University, Uganda: www.must.ac.ug

For more information regarding activities in Africa please contact ReAct Africa: Constance Walyaro: constance.walyaro@reactgroup.org

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Thailand

19-20 November
The 2015 World Antibiotic Awareness Week will start on 19-20 November with a two-day exhibition at Maharaj Hospital, Chiang Mai on the ‘Gardening for Health’ kit, being jointly produced by ReAct South East Asia with the environmental awareness group CM Greencity. The gardening kit is meant to be an educational tool for spreading public awareness on food safety and the link between nutrition and antiboiotic resistance.

22-26 November
Thailand will be the site of ReAct South East Asia’s annual meeting with participants coming from East Timor, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

22 November
Delegates to the ReAct South East Asia’s annual meeting will go on a field trip to Saraburi to learn about the Antibiotic Smart Use (ASU) project being implemented by the Thai Ministry of Public Health. The ASU project, launched in 2007, involves educating the public and introduction of protocols at the hospital and community health levels to reduce antibiotic use for common ailments.

23 November
The ReAct South East Asia annual meeting  will discuss, among other things, the status of national plans of action on antimicrobial resistance in the region and ReAct’s activities for 2016.

24 November
ReAct South East Asia delegates will join the Bangkok-based Drug System Monitoring and Development Centre(DMDC) for a two and a half day meeting in Bangkok on the theme of antibiotic resistance. The meeting will also see the launch of the “Gardening for Health” kit, along with five booklets on the themes of health, medicine and disease.

25 November
ReAct South East Asia will organize a half-day workshop on the WHO’s Global Action Plan and how civil society can contribute to its implementation.

Malaysia

19 November
As part of the World Antibiotic Awareness Week, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia the University of Malaya will organize a seminar on 19 November on the theme of  “Impact of antibiotic use and emergence of resistance in the 21stcentury”. Together with WHO-SEARO, discussions are planned during the seminar on topics such as Global/Regional initiatives on Action against Antibiotic Resistance, Success and Challenges of national AMR policies and The experience of antibiotic use in agriculture and food products.

Indonesia

In Indonesia, ReAct South East Asia partner Yayasan Orangtua Peduli (YOP), is preparing a number of activitiessuch as: a media briefing on antibiotic resistance issues to educate journalists amd drawing competitions involving elementary students and students of medical and pharmaceutical companies.

For more information regarding activities in South East Asia please contact ReAct Asia Pacific: Satya Sivaraman e-mail: satyasagar@gmail.com

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Ecuador

17 November
Microbial stories are told on the radio. A group of children from various schools of Cuenca, co-authors of microbial stories “From the smallest to the tiniest of the planet”, will gather at, “Urban Rights”, together with the journalist Ana Abad, to talk about the stories they wrote, explaining how the project has changed their relationship with microbes and antibiotics within their families and schools.

(En Español) Los cuentos microbianos se cuentan en la radio. Un grupo de niños y niñas de varias escuelas de Cuenca, coautores del libro de cuentos microbianos “De los diminutos a los más pequeños del planeta”, se juntarán en el espacio “Derechos Urbanos”, de la periodista Ana Abad, para contar los cuentos que escribieron, contar cómo los concibieron y contar cómo eso cambió su relación con los microbios y los antibióticos dentro de sus familias y en las escuelas.

21 November
A cyclo-ride to raise awareness on the appropriate use of antibiotics. 100 cyclists including students from the faculty of medicine at the University of Cuenca and members of the Collective BiciCuenca will taket o the streets of Cuenca carrying the messages of appropriate use of antibiotics to the community. At the end of the ride they will make a collage about antibiotic resistance and a group of students will present an exebition about the relations between the microbial world and human health.

(En Español) Jornada ciclística por el buen uso de antibióticos. 100 ciclistas, entre estudiantes de ciencias médicas de la Universidad de Cuenca e integrantes del Colectivo BiciCuenca, recorrerán las calles de la ciudad de Cuenca llevando mensajes alusivos al uso apropiado de antibióticos a la población. Al final del recorrido, se realizará un collage colectivo con respecto al uso de antibióticos y un grupo de estudiantes presentará una exposición sobre la relación entre el mundo microbiano y la salud humana.

22 November
Debate on resistance infections to take place on ”Voices of the city”. The most listened to debate program, hosted by journalist Fausto Cardoso,  brings together four specialists on the issue of antibiotic resistant infections to discuss the magnitude of antibiotic resistance, its causes and solutions on the local, national and global level. The specialists invited are Paula Cisneros, the Ministry of Health, Fanny Rodriguez, Social Security, María Cecilia Acuña, PAHO in Ecuador, and Arturo Quizhpe, coordinator ReAct Latin America, who will also interact with the audience.

(En Español) Debate sobre las infecciones resistentes en “Voces de la Ciudad” . En el programa de debates más sintonizado de la ciudad, conducido por el periodista Fausto Cardoso, cuatro especialistas en el tema de las infecciones resistentes debatirán sobre la magnitud de la resistencia bacteriana, sus causas y las soluciones en marcha, a nivel nacional y global. Los especialistas invitados son Paula Cisneros, del Ministerio de Salud, Fanny Rodríguez, del Seguro Social, María Cecilia Acuña, de la OPS en el Ecuador, y Arturo Quizhpe, coordinador de ReAct Latinoamérica, quienes interactuarán también con la audiencia.

For more information regarding activities in Ecuador please contact ReAct Latin America: Kléver Calle: kcalle@gmail.com

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Europe

18 November
The Lancet will publish series about Policy on antimicrobial resistance focusing on access.
Writers from ReAct: Anna Zorzet, Jasper Littman, Anthony So

The Lancet are planning a launch event for the series on November 18th at Imperial College London from 14:00-17:00 CET.

Release of report during this week
A report from a Meeting of Experts on Biomarkers to Discriminate Bacterial from other Infectious Causes of Acute Fever will be released. Meeting was arranged by: WHO, FIND, MSF and ReAct, in September 2015.

For more information regarding activities in Europe please contact ReAct Europe: Therese Holm: therese.holm@medsci.uu.se

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Other useful links

WHO during World Antibiotic Awareness week. You will find campaign Materials, including a quiz: How much do you know about antibiotic resistance?

ECDC (European Centre for Prevention and Control) during European Antibiotic Awareness day.

CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) during World Antibiotic Awareness week.