Strong One Health leadership and commitment for AMR in Nigeria
Mabel Aworh from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Nigeria reports on a week of action.
The official 'Nigeria Antibiotic Guardian Pledge' was launched at a high-level event by Senate Committee Chair on Health, Dr. Ibrahim Oloriegbe and Chair on Agriculture and Productivity, Abdullahi Adamu.
Speaking to the Daily Trust website, Oloriegbe committed to raising awareness among Nigerians on the dangers of using human and veterinary antibiotics indiscriminately and promised to communicate in mass-messaging to educate Nigerians. “The media needs the public to know that antibiotics as good and useful as they are, they are dangerous,” he said. “Unless we develop programmes to educate the public on the dangers, we won’t win the war.”
A series of events were held including air time on Radio Nigeria Network News where Mrs Mba Nwando, Director of Public Health Lab Services at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), discussed Antimicrobial Resistance.
Awareness walk in Abuja, Nigeria
The antibiotics awareness week began with the Awareness Walk where staff marched through the streets creating awareness and distributing flyers to those they met along the way.
As part of the walk in Abuja, a visit was paid to the livestock market to create awareness among those who traded there on the need to consult with a veterinarian before medication was given to livestock. Experts also engaged with Vets on the responsible use of antibiotics when treating livestock and other animals.
Raising awareness on AMR at livestock market in Abuja
Awareness also included talks on the importance of hand hygiene as a preventive measure.
Awareness walk in Nasarawal, Nigeria
Many other states apart from the country’s capital took part in the events on AMR including Nasarawa state where there was another awareness walk.
“So much happened this year as we celebrated world antibiotics awareness week. Many states in Nigeria were involved however I hope this is a good representation of what we did”, said Mabel.
Read more
Antimicrobial resistance. Understanding where it is and how to target it key to reducing risks
Visit the FAO WAAW website
Visit the WHO WAAW website
Try the AMR awareness activities on line