This World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (18-24 November), people in the Black Country are being encouraged to take part in an Antibiotic Amnesty and hand in any old or unused antibiotics.
Organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO), World Antimicrobial Awareness Week aims to raise awareness of antimicrobial resistance and highlight how to use them responsibly to help keep medicines effective. Antimicrobials, including antibiotics, are medicines used to prevent and treat infections.
Antibiotic resistance, where antibiotics become less effective, continues to be one of the biggest health threats facing the world today. Without effective antibiotics, many routine treatments will become increasingly dangerous, as they rely on access to antibiotics that work.
During the week, people are being reminded to hand in their old or unused antibiotics to their local pharmacy for safe disposal.
Donna Cooper, Antimicrobial Workstream Lead for NHS Black Country Integrated Care Board, said: “World Antimicrobial Awareness Week is a great opportunity for us to highlight the importance of using antibiotics correctly. Antibiotics aren’t a cure for all illnesses – they don’t work against viral infections such as colds or flu, while many mild bacterial infections get better on their own.
“Using them inappropriately increases the risk of antimicrobial resistance, where the antibiotics become less effective as the bugs learn to protect themselves against them. That’s why it’s important that people only ever take antibiotics that have been prescribed to them and they finish the course unless instructed by a healthcare professional. Antibiotics should never be saved to be used later, and never given to someone else.
“We all have to do our best to preserve the benefits of existing and future antibiotics, which is why we’re urging anyone who has any old or unused antibiotics at home to please drop them off at their local pharmacy who will dispose of them safely.”
You can pledge to become an Antibiotic Guardian here.
To find your local pharmacy, visit the NHS website here.
