The fourth annual European Antibiotic Awareness Day (EAAD) will take place on Friday 18^th November. The aim of the day is to highlight the importance of appropriate antibiotic use, in both primary care and hospital settings, to limit the spread of antibiotic resistance.

A number of initiatives relating to primary care are planned around this year’s EAAD, including:

• A public information campaign from HSE Communications, which will include radio, online and other formats. The campaign will aim to get the message to patients and parents that antibiotics are not required for viral respiratory tract infections, thus reducing patient/parental expectation for an antibiotic prescription.
• Development of patient/parent information leaflets, which will include the key messages from the public information campaign and address common misconceptions about antibiotics.
• Development of posters and other educational materials emphasising the importance of appropriate antibiotic use, for use in GP surgeries, health centres, community pharmacies and other locations.
• Printing and distribution of national guidelines for antibiotic prescribing in primary care
• Distribution of educational materials to hospital antimicrobial stewardship teams
• Distribution of information on antimicrobial resistance and the importance of prudent antibiotic prescribing to hospital-based prescribers
• Provision of educational material on prudent antibiotic use in community pharmacies.

A  professional briefing will be held on November 18^th, with the public information campaign taking place over the following two months (to coincide with increased respiratory viral activity, when antibiotic use in Ireland tends to peak).

Antibiotic use and resistance are both relatively high in Ireland, compared to other European countries. EAAD, and the associated public and patient educational initiatives, should help to address this serious threat to human health.

(Note: the “Guidelines for Antimicrobial Prescribing in Primary Care in Ireland”, along with patient/parent educational materials relating to prudent antibiotic use, are available for download from www.hpsc.ie)