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ReAct highlights during World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2022

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2022-12-18

Community engagement was ReAct's focus during World Antimicrobial Awareness Week this year. This in for example Ecuador, India, Zambia and Kenya. Simultaneously, there was increased online activity. ReAct met scientists, policy makers, students, held seminars, arranged meetings and webinars, published videos and intensified activity in social media. ReAct leaves this year's World Antibiotic Awareness Week behind with hope for the future. In this article you find a glimpse of some of the activities ReAct arranged during the week.

Long Read

ReAct Asia Pacific: Antibiotic Smart Communities as a way forward

Antibiotic Smart Communities Project: Volunteers visiting houses for assessment and education on environment sanitation, before the annual monsoon rains. Photo: ReAct Asia Pacific.
Antibiotic Smart Communities Project: Volunteers visiting houses for assessment and education on environment sanitation, before the annual monsoon rains. Photo: Vishak Kumar.

Can there be such a thing as an antibiotic smart community? If so, how could processes towards this be initiated and systematically approached? These questions, and an urging feeling that to be able to implement the National Action Plans on Antimicrobial Resistance there is a need for a bottom-up engagement approach. Communities need to engage for action on the global health challenge we all are facing – drug-resistant bacteria. With this mindset, ReAct Asia Pacific initiated the project Antibiotic Smart Communities.

Read full article about Antibiotic Smart Communities in Kerala, India

Webinar about Antibiotic Smart Communities

ReAct Asia Pacific hosted a webinar focusing on community engagement and a novel indicator framework that the region developed via the project Antibiotic Smart Communities. During the webinar ReAct Asia Pacific will share learnings for the project, you will listen to AMR-experts from across the globe and the 1,5 hour long webinar will end with a panel discussion.

Webinar overview

ReAct Europe in Podcast about Antibiotic Smart Sweden

Will there be such a thing as an Antibiotic Smart Sweden in the future? This the aim in a project by Swedish Public Health Institute, RISE (Research Institutes of Sweden) and ReAct Europe, with support from Vinnova. Curios?

Listen to Uppsala Antibiotic Center podcast to learn more about the project!

Professor Otto Cars – Awarded honorary award

Otto Cars receiving Research!Sweden’s honorary award from Lena Gustafsson, Chairman, Research!Sweden. Photo: Research! Sweden

Professor Otto Cars, founder of ReAct, was awarded Research!Sweden’s honorary award for his dedicated work in slowing down the development of antibiotic resistance. This includes his work to enable the development of new antibiotics and equal access to effective treatments for bacterial infections globally.

Article: Otto Cars was awarded Research!Sweden’s Honorary Award during World Antimicrobial Awareness Week.

See the Research!Sweden event with speakers (including Otto Cars) and panel discussion

Honored with film

To commemorate World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, Uppsala University released a 16 minute long film portraying Otto Cars and his life-long engagement in saving these life-saving medicines. The film is produced by Marcus Holmqvist, Uppsala University.

Article: Otto Cars has dedicated his life to the fight against antibiotic resistance

Innovate4Health: 16 finalists from 12 countries!

Here you see Team REPROSmart presenting at the Global AMR Youth Summit held 17-19 November. Photo: ReAct North America.

During the week sixteen finalist teams for the Innovate4health global design sprint was announced. The teams are representing a new generation of innovators that will address the challenges of emerging infectious diseases.

Via this sprint, university and graduate-level student innovators from across the globe propose creative solutions to address the growing challenge that emerging infections such as antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and COVID-19 pose. Learn more about the finalist teams and their ideas.

Read full article and meet the teams

Couch Conversations on AMR – 7 short videos with stakeholders in the African region

Here Episode 1: Couch Conversations about antimicrobial resistance – cross disciplinary partnership. Video: Kalichi Pictures 

ReAct Africa produced seven short videos with stakeholders from the African region and beyond, discussing different areas within antimicrobial resistance and work that needs to be done.

Here you can find the 7 short videos

Awareness walk in Lusaka, Zambia

ReAct Africa joined Zambia National Public Health Institute and partners in the streets of Lusaka for a 4.3 km Awareness walk. Photo: ReAct Africa

ReAct Africa joined Zambia National Public Health Institute (ZNPHI) and partners in the streets of Lusaka for a 4.3 km Awareness walk.

See photos from the Awareness walk

Competitions, webinars, social media campaigns and new Indonesian declaration on AMR

From the launch of the declaration on antimicrobial resistance in Indonesia. Photo: ReAct Asia Pacific

Interactions with media, students and health professionals formed the highlight of various events held to mark the World Antibiotic Awareness Week in the Asia Pacific region. Learn more in article.

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