Kerala to observe World AMR Awareness Week

As part of the World Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR ) awareness week being observed from November 18 to 24, Kerala will focus on its efforts to improve antibiotic literacy in the State.

World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW) is a global campaign that is celebrated annually to improve awareness and understanding of AMR and encourage best practices among the public.

One of the key objectives of the global action plan to tackle the growing problem of resistance to antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines is to improve awareness and understanding of AMR through effective communication, education and training.

Kerala had set the goal of December 2025 to achieve total antibiotic literacy in the State.

The antibiotic literate Kerala campaign aims at creating public awareness on the importance of the proper use of antibiotics and how date-expired antibiotics should be disposed of safely so that they do not pollute waterbodies and come back into the soil.

The message that is being conveyed to the public is that rational and judicious use of antibiotics is essential to prevent the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of pathogens. Health authorities also stress on the fact that antibiotics should not be bought over the counter and bought only with the prescription from a registered medical practitioner.

As part of awareness creation, the Health department has launched a new campaign wherein a 10-question quiz is being disseminated among the public to test the level of antibiotic literacy.

“Though the over-the-counter sale of antibiotics in the State has gone down by 20 to 30%, this was essentially because of the stringent regulations that prevented the sale of antibiotics without prescriptions and not necessarily because of the AMR awareness amongst people. We want people to voluntarily desist from seeking antibiotics over the counter,” a senior Health official said.

The quiz is being widely disseminated among the public using a QR code. The idea is to seek the help of an external agency to assess the knowledge and behaviour change among people at a later stage.