WAAW from 18-24 November, 2020

The Tripartite Organizations (FAO, OIE and WHO) are happy to announce the overarching slogan for the World Antibiotic (Antimicrobials) Awareness Week (WAAW) 2020 campaign: ‘Antimicrobials: Handle with care’. 

 The Tripartite Organizations conducted a stakeholders’ consultation meeting on May 27-29, 2020  to revamp the WAAW and make it everyone’s business. The meeting was held virtually and convened a broad range of stakeholders from all regions representing diverse sectors, such as the animal health, human health, environment and food sectors, as well as youth, civil society, international organizations, UN agencies and academia. The consultation meeting provided a wealth of information in developing an impactful WAAW campaign for 2020 and beyond.

The outcomes of the meeting included changing the scope of WAAW from antibiotic to broader antimicrobials and embracing the Tripartite Executive Committee’s (composed of the three Directors General) decision to fix WAAW dates to 18 to 24 November annually.

Expanding the scope of the campaign into all antimicrobials will facilitate the inclusiveness of the global response against antimicrobial resistance through a multisectoral One Health Approach and stakeholder engagement.

Antimicrobials are agents that are critical tools for fighting diseases in humans, animals and plants and include antibiotic, antiviral, antifungal and antiprotozoal. The overarching slogan proposed for WAAW 2020 is ‘Antimicrobials: Handle with care’  in order to signify this  transition from antibiotics to antimicrobials. Additionally, the meeting also concluded on the use of tailored sub-themes relevant to each sectors (i.e. animal health, human health, environment and food and feed) in addition to the slogan.

The AMR Insights International Matchmaking Symposium ‘Emerging Antimicrobials and Diagnostics in AMR 2020‘ on 18-19 November  in Amsterdam marks the beginning of the WAAW.