Wow! It is finally the WAAW season, and it is trending.
In an era where all the bad things trend, I know you are tempted to ask what WAAW even means; what new bad thing is upon us. No, no, easy. The reason this is a quite interesting talk of town is because it exposes a silent pandemic, one whose silence has been growing louder by the day, hitting a crescendo we can no longer ignore.
The silent pandemic, Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), is a situation where germs such as bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites no longer respond to drugs that used to be effective in treating their infections, thus making disease harder to manage. This makes for a scary situation, itself enough to generate and to- you got it- trend.
World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) is observed annually from 18th to 24th November. This year’s theme for WAAW is “Educate. Advocate. Act Now.” In Kenya, the event kicked off with a 2-day Symposium at the Movenpick Hotel, Nairobi. True to the saying ‘unity is strength’, representatives from the Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MOLD), Ministry of Environment, and Ministry of Fisheries, Blue Economy, and Maritime were in attendance, among other representatives of multiple, key disciplines.
This was a unique opportunity for cross-sector collaboration in the fight against AMR. The ambience provided a perfect environment to mull over, carefully marinate on and integrate all shared information. The insightful presentations highlighted the importance of antimicrobial stewardship across all sectors, the need for proper diagnosis before treatment, prudent use of antibiotics and importance of infection prevention measures.
Social media platforms such as social media were used- or, better put, tried- to spread short accurate and targeted messages throughout the discussions. And don’t scientists need training on the use of social media! If they can muster AMR, they can muster X, which a majority still calls Twitter. Not to mention the series of webinars on antimicrobial stewardship given by experts from environment, animal and human health fields daily over the week.
The symposium underscored the need for a one health approach and fostered a strong sense of urgency to all relevant stakeholders, highlighting the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health in tackling antimicrobial resistance.
The standout feature of the event was an AMR survivor’s testimony. They recounted their experience with drug resistance ending in a permanent disability. The clarion call is for the public to join hands in fighting AMR in all ways possible and to curb its devastating spread, happening at a supersonic pace.
AMR can affect anyone and any age, and efforts to curb it should, thus, be everyone’s responsibility.
As I have educated you, be an advocate and act now!
Dr. Lynn Dorice-Kenya Women Veterinary Association