Healthcare professionals and residents are being urged to make a pledge to become an Antibiotic Guardian – and in doing so help ensure that life-saving medicines can remain effective for longer.
World Antibiotic Awareness Week is underway, highlighting the fact that antibiotics are a precious resource which should only be used when prescribed by a certified health professional.
By making a pledge at www.antibioticguardian.com, healthcare professionals and residents can help slow resistance to antibiotics, one of the biggest threats facing the world today.
Councillor Jasbir Jaspal, the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Health and Wellbeing, said: "Without effective antibiotics many routine treatments will become increasingly dangerous. Basic operations, setting broken bones, even chemotherapy and animal health all rely on access to antibiotics that work.
"To slow resistance to antibiotics, we need to cut the unnecessary use of them – and so we are calling on healthcare professionals and the general public to become Antibiotic Guardians by making a simple pledge about how you’ll make better use of antibiotics which will help stop these vital medicines from becoming obsolete. It's really important that people use antibiotics in the right way – the right drug, at the right dose, at the right time for the right duration.
“They should be taken as prescribed, never saved later or shared with others. In addition, you shouldn't take antibiotics for mild infections when you don’t need to. Common ailments like colds, coughs, earache and sore throats usually get better without antibiotics, and if you have any of these, you should speak to your pharmacist who will be able to give you advice on the best remedies."
The theme of this year's World Antibiotic Awareness Week is 'preventing antimicrobial resistance together', and calls on collaboration across sectors to preserve the efficacy of these critical medicines.
