As part of World Antibiotic Awareness Week (WAAW) of World Health Organisation (WHO), Nursebeam joined in by creating free virtual training chatbot on antimicrobial resistance for 10 countries: Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, St Kitts and Nevis, Thailand and USA.
Themed this year "Antibiotics: handle with care" WHO's focus this year was to teach
how to handle antibiotics with care and help the world stop the spread of antibiotic resistance.
"Antibiotics are essential medicines that can kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria to cure infections in people, animals and sometimes plants. When antibiotics lost their ability to kill or stop the growth of the bacteria it is called antibiotic resistance."
explains Dr Hussen Tareq, the Chief Medical Officer of Nursebeam.
"Some bacteria are naturally resistant to certain antibiotics. Some become resistant when they are exposed to antibiotics and survive. "
It happens when:
- Your doctor does not prescribe medicine properly
- You do not consume medicine properly
- The food you eat was grown with extensive antibiotic use.
The key to stopping antibiotic resistance is to follow proper and designated use of antibiotics. Antibiotics should be used only in case of antibiotic infections. In case of viral, fungal or parasitic infections, anti-viral, anti-fungal or anti-parasitic drugs should be uses instead. There's a need to increase awareness both among medical professionals and patients how to consume drugs in proper ways.
adds Dr Tareq. That's why Nursebeam teamed up with WHO and created free educational chatbot, targeting both patients and medical professionals to take a step towards limiting the spread of antibiotic resistance. In addition to WHO website, you can access it directly at https://nursebeam.app/amr
Nursebeam intends launching more educational chatbots in 2020. If you have idea for a topic or wish to see improvements to our current ones, feel free to reach us out at hello@nursebeam.com