Antibiotic Awareness Week Proclamation Signing Ceremony
CDC has designated November 18 to 24 as US Antibiotic Awareness Week. Antibiotic Awareness Week is an annual observance in the United States and around the world to promote the importance of using antibiotic appropriately as a mean to minimize unwanted effects from antibiotic therapy (e.g., adverse reactions, Clostridioides difficile infections) and antibiotic resistance.
In recognition of this annual observance, Governor Pete Ricketts signed a proclamation on November 4, 2009 in the State Capitol designating November 18 to 24 Antibiotic Awareness Week in Nebraska. Dr. Maureen Tierney, the head of the Healthcare Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance (HAI-AR) Team within Public Health at the Nebraska DHHS, delivered a brief statement during the signing ceremony. She remarked that antibiotics are critical and life-saving tools for combating common and serious infections but at least 30% of outpatient antibiotics are prescribed unnecessarily (contemporary estimates suggest that more than half of antibiotics prescribed in the outpatient setting are inappropriate).
Dr. Tierney explained that a number of different partners in Nebraska are improving the way healthcare professionals, farmers, veterinarians and other professionals in the livestock and agricultural industries are using antibiotics. These partners include the Nebraska Infection Control Assessment and Promotion Program (ICAP), Nebraska Medicine, CHI, Great Plains Quality Innovation Network, Nebraska Pharmacist Association, Nebraska One Health, and the Nebraska Antimicrobial Stewardship Assessment and Promotion Program (ASAP).
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Content courtesy Phil Chung, PharmD
Photos courtesy Sue Beach