Ethiopia commemorated World Antimicrobial Awareness Week on 18-24 November 2020 in a series of activities that aimed to bring the agenda of preserving antimicrobials to the forefront through awareness building and knowledge sharing among stakeholders. 

On 18 November 2020, the Ministries of Health and Agriculture, together with the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commission, issued a press release on antimicrobial resistance and held a media briefing and media sensitization workshop on the subject. A panel discussion on antimicrobials was held on 20 November that brought together different actors from the human and animal health as well as animal production fields. A One Health Technical Working Group for Surveillance and Research for AMR was also established during the Antimicrobial Awareness Week commemorative events.

Panel discussion themed “Antimicrobials: handle with care”  
The World Health Organization (WHO) and partners from different sectors came together in a knowledge-sharing panel discussion with the theme: “Antimicrobials: handle with care” in Addis Ababa on 20 November 2020 as part of the commemoration of the World Antimicrobial Awareness Week.  The panel discussion, organized with the technical and financial support of by the WHO, was attended by more than 40 participants from the Ministry of Health and its agencies, the Ministry of Agriculture and its agencies, the Ethiopian Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commission, health professional associations, hospitals, FAO and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). 

The panel discussion aimed to increase awareness of global and national antimicrobial resistance (AMR) status; promote prudent and responsible use of antimicrobial agents, encourage best practices among policy makers, providers of human health, animal health and environment services, and the general public to prevent and contain antimicrobial resistance. 

In a keynote address at the opening of the panel discussion, Dr Indrajit Hazarika, Health Systems and Services Coordinator at WHO Ethiopia underscored that efforts to respond to the threat of AMR must cut across all sectors of society. “If we are to curb antimicrobial resistance – which, as we all know, is driven by misuse and overuse of antibiotics – we must correct common vices such as easy over-the-counter access to drugs, the non-therapeutic use of antimicrobials in livestock, and overprescribing by drugs,” he said, calling for strengthened vigor and urgency to address the looming danger of antimicrobial resistance, and the havoc it could wreak on health systems and global health security.   

Global and national data were shared on antimicrobial use and resistance in humans and animals, and the cross-cutting nature of the issue between the human and animal health fields was discussed.  Presenters from the Ethiopian Public Health Institute, WHO, FAO and OIE presented on the subject, sharing knowledge and updates from the different sectors.  Presentations included, Global Antimicrobial Surveillance System Report by WHO, National Human Health Surveillance preliminary report, National Animal Health Surveillance Report, and strengths, challenges and the way forward for national AMR prevention and containment response in human, animal and the environment.

The panel discussion ended with reflections on how all stakeholders can unite to preserve antimicrobials, what barriers make it difficult to preserve them, and what can be done to increase awareness on AMR and thereby preserve antimicrobials. 
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