2018-11-18
A rap song and dance contest, colorful exhibitions, video releases and detailed discussions on national policy marked the observance of the World Antibiotic Awareness Week in Thailand.
Over 150 delegates from seven countries in the south and south-east Asia region participated in two days of both deliberations and fun in Bangkok that also saw attendance from students of several leading medical universities in Thailand. The event was inaugurated by Dr.Sukhum Kanchanapimai, Permanent Secretary General, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand.
“This year the theme of our activities was to review the public awareness aspects of Thailand’s National Strategic Plan on AMR 2017 – 2021,”
said Dr Niyada Kiatying-Angsulee, Manager, Drug System Monitoring & Development Center (DMDC), one of the main organizers of the event.
The DMDC, which is associated with the prestigious Bangkok-based Chulalongkorn University is a partner in Thailand of ReAct Asia-Pacific, which also participated in the Thai World Antibiotic Awareness Week activities.
7 countries reported on the AMR situation in respective country
According to Dr Niyada, another important theme that was debated by participants was the need to reclassify and label antibiotics adequately so that people understand the need to preserve them and their vulnerability to bacterial resistance. Delegates from other Asian countries such as Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Nepal, India and the Philippines presented reports on the situation of antimicrobial resistance in their countries and the measures being taken to tackle the problem. The event also saw a meeting of civil cociety organizations working on antimicrobial resistance to share their experiences and suggest ways of working together on the problem.
27 organizations arranged WAAW activities in Thailand
Along with DMDC, over 27 organizations representing communities, consumer and health rights groups from around Thailand came together to carry out a series of different kinds of activities during World Antibiotic Awareness Week. These included, a workshop on “Art and Communication” on responsible use of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance; a social media campaign to raise awareness among students of pharmacy; dissemination of public information on avoiding needless use of antibiotics and hospital-based meetings on ways to respond to antimicrobial resistance.
Thailand’s National Action Plan on AMR – Reduce mortality, morbidity and economic impact of AMR
The main vision of Thailand’s National Strategic Plan on AMR 2017-2021 is to reduce mortality, morbidity and economic impact of antimicrobial resistance and to establish policies and multi-sectoral mechanisms, which support effective and sustained antimicrobial resistance management system. Among its 5 goals:
- 50% including of antimicrobial resistance morbidity
- 20% reduction of antimicrobial consumption in humans
- 20% increase in public awareness on antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial use and
- 30% reduction of antimicrobial use in animals.
Read more about World Antibiotic Awareness Week in Thailand.