A roundtable discussion held in Ganja on World Antibiotic Awareness Week

The purpose of the event was to bring together partners to discuss the antimicrobial resistance and to identify effective solutions to increase public awareness.

Representatives of WHO, Ministry of Health, State Agency on Mandatory Health Insurance and pilot medical institutions attended in the event.

WHO Representative in Azerbaijan Dr. Hande Harmanci emphasized the importance of this week in her opening remarks. WHO’s specialist Dr. Javahir Suleymanova made a presentation on the state of antibiotic resistance in the world, while the representatives of the Ministry of Health Nazifa Mursalova and Hagigat Gadirova talked about the antibiotic resistance and their effects in Azerbaijan.

Sharafat Ismayilova, a staff member of the State Agency on Mandatory Health Insurance, spoke about antibiotic control mechanisms, and Inara Makayeva, a representative of the Public Health and Reforms Centre, gave a speech on the awareness campaign in the country conducted with the support of WHO.

Within the framework of this week training sessions for medical workers will be held in Mingachevir. Surveys will be conducted to assess the level of antibiotic awareness among the population in Baku and Sumgait.

The World Antibiotic Awareness Week, held each year in November, aims to increase global awareness of antibiotic resistance, to promote proper use of antibiotics and to encourage best practices among the general public, health workers and policy makers to avoid the further emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance.

Since their discovery, antibiotics have served as the cornerstone of modern medicine. However, the persistent overuse and misuse of antibiotics in human and animal health have encouraged the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance, which occurs when microbes, such as bacteria, become resistant to the drugs used to treat them.