November 18 marks European Antibiotic Awareness Day.

As part of a European-wide initiative, we ask for your support to fight the trend of rising antibiotic resistance. The risk of misuse of antibiotics is further heightened by the threat posed by pandemic influenza.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has, together with health authorities across the European Union, launched European Antibiotic Awareness Day, a European public health initiative which is marked annually on November 18.

The key messages of this year's campaign are:

1. Growing antibiotic resistance threatens the effectiveness of antibiotics now and in the future
2. Rising levels of antibiotic-resistant bacteria could be curbed by encouraging limited and appropriate antibiotic use in primary care patients
3. Communicating with patients is key

For more information and additional resources for communicating antibiotic awareness in primary care, please visit:

http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/eaad/