Be Antibiotics Aware Partner Toolkit

What to know

  • CDC's educational effort, Be Antibiotics Aware, aims to improve antibiotic prescribing and use among target consumer and healthcare professional audiences to protect patient safety and combat antimicrobial resistance.
  • U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week (USAAW) is an annual observance that raises awareness of the threat of antimicrobial resistance and the importance of appropriate antibiotic and antifungal use.
  • Be Antibiotics Aware complements USAAW by providing partners with key messages, sample social media posts, and graphics and videos they can use to spread the word within their organization.
Graphic includes images of several healthcare professionals and patients. “U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week November 18-24 in large dark blue box at top of graphic. Be Antibiotics Aware: Smart Use, Best Care logo in white box on top left of graphic.
  • CDC's educational effort, Be Antibiotics Aware, aims to improve antibiotic prescribing and use among target consumer and healthcare professional audiences to protect patient safety and combat antimicrobial resistance.
  • U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week (USAAW) is an annual observance that raises awareness of the threat of antimicrobial resistance and the importance of appropriate antibiotic and antifungal use.
  • Be Antibiotics Aware complements USAAW by providing partners with key messages, sample social media posts, and graphics and videos they can use to spread the word within their organization.

Overview

USAAW 2024: Fighting Antimicrobial Resistance Takes All of Us‎‎

USAAW is an annual observance that raises awareness of the threat of AR and its impact on human health. This year, CDC is focusing on how fighting antimicrobial resistance takes all of us by sharing calls to action for diverse audiences.

Antibiotics can save lives and are critical tools for treating common and serious infections, including those that can lead to sepsis.

Any time antibiotics or antifungals are used, they can cause side effects and contribute to the development of antimicrobial resistance, one of the most urgent threats to the public's health.

Antimicrobial resistance happens when germs, like bacteria and fungi, develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them. More than 2.8 million antimicrobial-resistant infections occur in the United States each year, and more than 35,000 people die as a result. Many more die from complications from antimicrobial-resistant infections.

Improving how healthcare professionals prescribe and how patients take antibiotics can help keep patients healthy from adverse events, combat antimicrobial resistance, and help ensure these life-saving drugs will be available for future generations.

Each year during USAAW, CDC works collaboratively with federal, domestic, and international partners to raise awareness of the threat of antimicrobial resistance and highlight the critical importance of appropriate antibiotic and antifungal use. Check out CDC's U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week webpage to help spread the word.

The observance is an international collaboration, coinciding with:

Order FREE print resources‎‎

To order select free print resources, call 1-800-CDC-INFO or visit CDC-INFO on Demand – Publications. Type "antibiotic use" in the "Keyword or PubID" box and click "Apply".


How to participate

USAAW 2024 Partner Call ‎

View the USAAW 2024 Partner Call Presentation slides here!

CDC is inviting everyone to Go Purple for USAAW. Wear purple any time between November 18-24 and encourage leaders and organizations in your community to light up buildings and landmarks in purple to show it takes all of us to combat antimicrobial resistance. If you or your organization are planning to support Go Purple for USAAW register and share your plans with CDC.

In addition to going purple, you can participate in USAAW in the following ways:

Share social media messages, images and animated graphics on your organization's social media channels. Remember to use #USAAW24 and #BeAntibioticsAware in every post!

Keep Reading: Be Antibiotics Aware: Social Media

Print and share handouts and posters with patients and healthcare professionals, available in English and Spanish.

Play videos (available in English and Spanish) on TV screens and iPads in your medical office, pharmacy, waiting room or lobby.

Keep Reading: Be Antibiotics Aware: Graphics and Videos

Review and share the Antibiotic Stewardship Resource Bundles as part of your organization's U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week promotion efforts.

Keep Reading: Antibiotic Stewardship Resource Bundles

Insert the following content into your newsletters, blogs, and other publications.

Article targeting patients/families:

Article targeting healthcare professionals:

Additional CDC Resources

Stewardship report

Core Elements

Spanish resources

Information for patients on antibiotic use and resistance in Spanish (Recursos educativos para pacientes y profesionales de atención médica.)

Manage Common Cold (Manejo del resfriado común)

Antibiotic stewardship training

CDC Training on Antibiotic Stewardship This interactive web-based activity contains four sections designed to help clinicians optimize antibiotic use to combat antimicrobial resistance and improve healthcare quality and patient safety.

Antimicrobial resistance

Sepsis

Subscribe to CDC News & Updates

Sign up for Antimicrobial Resistance & Antibiotic Use and other CDC.gov items of interest to you.

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Content Source:
National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID)