Antibiotic resistance on the rise
The fight against antibiotic resistance is being intensified worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched an "Antibiotics Awareness Week", which is also being held in Switzerland for the first time.
Antibiotic resistance affects humans, animals, agriculture and the environment in equal measure. Numerous associations and organizations support the Awareness Week nationwide with their own activities and campaigns.
Antibiotic resistance is on the rise worldwide, increasing the risk that infectious diseases will be difficult or impossible to treat and that people or animals will die. In Switzerland, too, people and animals are infected every year by bacteria against which antibiotics are no longer effective. With the international "Antibiotics Awareness Week", the World Health Organization (WHO) wants to make a broad public aware of the problem.
Various events, publications and information events are planned. The week is coordinated by the Federal Offices of Public Health (FOPH), Food Safety and Veterinary Affairs (FSVO), Agriculture (FOAG) and Environment (FOEN). Universities, experts, industry organizations, associations, research institutes, health facilities, pharmacies, consumer associations and other interested stakeholders participate with their own events and activities.
Numerous activities and campaigns, such as symposia for doctors at universities and hospitals or presentations for lay people, exhibitions and training courses at agricultural colleges and research institutes are already planned.
A public symposium organized by Public Health Switzerland in Bern will provide a broad overview of current developments in the field of antibiotic resistance, the dangers and risks, but also possible solutions. Furthermore, special conferences, specialist events and information events as well as lectures and guided tours take place.
Strategy Antibiotic Resistance (StAR)
Thanks to antibiotics - one of the most significant advances in medicine - it is possible to cure dangerous diseases such as pneumonia or blood poisoning, which were often fatal in the past. However, the excessive and sometimes improper use of antibiotics is leading to more and more bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics. The consequences are dramatic and affect humans, animals, agriculture and the environment alike.
The Federal Council therefore adopted its national antibiotic resistance strategy (StAR) in 2015 to address the problem of increasing resistance in a coordinated manner. (Source: admin.ch)
In Switzerland, the national "Antibiotic Awareness Week" (November 13 - 19, 2017) will inform and discuss the topic of antibiotic resistance together with stakeholders from the fields of human medicine, veterinary medicine, agriculture and the environment. Here already a general overview of worldwide measures and actions.
