In the UK, there are at least 12,000 deaths per year due to antimicrobial-resistant infections, equivalent to the number of deaths from breast cancer. According to the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), this figure is set to rise to 10 million deaths per year by 2050 at the current rate.

World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week (WAAW) aims to increase awareness of global AMR and to encourage best practices for using antimicrobials responsibly among the general public, health workers, and policy makers to avoid the further emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections.

Now, more than ever, we need to continue working together to prevent serious infections while reducing inappropriate antimicrobial use.

In the video on the right, Matthew Shaw, Director at CPPE, shares a message about the important role pharmacy professionals play in antimicrobial stewardship.

Explore your role in promoting antimicrobial stewardship and reducing antimicrobial resistance by following Gwendolyn’s story below.

This will support you to consider how some of the actions you can take (or already take) in your practice can increase patients’ awareness of the problems associated with antimicrobial resistance. It also demonstrates the importance of working together with patients and other healthcare professionals to reduce inappropriate antimicrobial use. Although set in community pharmacy, the same principles apply to other sectors of practice.