A press conference was held today to describe the initiatives undertaken by the Italian Medicines Agency to promote a conscious use of antibiotics and contribute to the fight against the phenomenon of antimicrobial resistance.

AIFA Director General, Nicola Magrini, and Evelina Tacconelli, Professor at the University of Verona, coordinator of the CTS AIFA Opera Working Group, illustrated the communication activities to the public and the more specific ones dedicated to prescribers, which will be launched during the World Antimicrobial Awareness Week promoted by the World Health Organisation (18-24 November 2022) and in the following months.

The initiative include two documents with Recommendations on the optimal use of antibiotics, intended for community and hospital medicine and focused on targeted treatment of infections caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria, to be published on the AIFA portal;; the Italian translation of the WHO AWaRe Antibiotic Book, on the optimal use of antibiotics; a reduced version of the same volume, calibrated for the Italian context and intended for general practitioners and pediatricians, which will expand on 10 most frequent infectious syndromes of interest in Italy, whose contents will also be available via App.

On the occasion of the World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, the Agency will also propose several communication initiatives including a TV and radio commercial, information materials shared on social channels, and out-of-home advertising, also projecting on the AIFA building in Via del Tritone messages aimed at promoting a prudent and responsible use of antibiotics.