November 18-24 is 'Get Smart About Antibiotics Week' November 18, 2013 General Antibiotics 0 With the cold and flu season underway, now is a good time to review appropriate antibiotic use. In fact, the week of November 18-24, 2013, is "Get Smart About Antibiotics Week" – a campaign to highlight the problem of antibiotic resistance and the importance of appropriate antibiotic use. The California Medical Association (CMA) Foundation's Alliance Working for Antibiotic Resistance Education (AWARE) project has teamed up with the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and others to bring attention to this growing concern. The "Get Smart About Antibiotics Week" campaign aims to slow the rise of antibiotic resistance by: •Promoting adherence to prescribing guidelines among providers, •Decreasing demand for antibiotics for viral upper respiratory infections among healthy adults and parents of young children, and •Increasing adherence to prescribed antibiotics for upper respiratory infections. The CMA Foundation recently published its seventh annual antibiotic awareness toolkit for physicians and other clinicians. The toolkit, available for download at the AWARE website, contains an array of clinical resources and patient education materials to help reduce inappropriate antibiotic use. For more information about "Get Smart About Antibiotics Week," visit the CDC website. Contact: CMA Foundation, (916) 779-6620 or aware@thecmafoundation.org. Comments are closed.
