The AIFA-ISS -Welfare campaign on the correct use of antibiotics aims to:

• Promote greater culture and information among the general population on the importance of an appropriate use of this class of drugs in order to have the possibility of always effective treatment for serious diseases.
• Reduce the phenomenon of antibiotic resistance

The messages, aimed at making the population aware of the need to take antibiotics correctly and only when necessary, are:

• Antibiotics yes, but with caution ...
• They are precious drugs, use them consciously and do not abuse them otherwise they risk losing their effectiveness
• Remember that antibiotics fight bacteria and not viruses that cause colds and flu. Check with your doctor before taking them.
• If you use antibiotics badly you can make bacteria stronger and you can reduce the weapons available to fight them and recover. Today, many bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics across Europe.
• Use antibiotics responsibly: this is how you help protect everyone's health, not just yours.

5 rules not to abuse antibiotics:

1. Do not take them if you have a cold or flu
2. Take them only upon prescription
3. Follow exactly the time and methods of intake indicated by your doctor
4. Do not stop the treatment before the end
5. Don't switch antibiotics on your own. Always contact your doctor

Through the use of suitable communication tools, the Campaign is aimed at the general population without distinction of sex or age.

Consumption of antibiotics, in fact, contrary to what happens for medicines intended for treatment of chronic diseases in which the greatest use, in 80% of cases, occurs in people over the age of 55, is not characterized by variations depending on the age except for increased paediatric use.

The communication tools chosen for the implementation of the Campaign are many and aimed at favouring the penetration of the message within the target audience. To achieve this goal, advertising tools have been privileged by resorting to a press campaign, dynamic urban advertising, radio advertisements, advertisements on cinema screens, a dedicated Internet site, a toll-free number, a press conference to present the activities and a dedicated conference to coincide with the European Day for Antibiotics announced on 18 November by the ECDC.

The images and contents of the Campaign

• Joint press conference to present the information campaign in which data will be provided on the consumption of antibiotics in Italy and on how they are used in a European comparison; an analysis will be given of the main prescriptive causes, as well as the results of the survey carried out by the ISS on "Italians and medicines" and data on the phenomenon of antibiotic resistance.
• Urban dynamic advertising on buses

    The messages of the Campaign will be disseminated on buses circulating in cities belonging to Regions which, on the basis of data from the National Report on medicines use in Italy 2007, recorded a consumption of antibiotics higher than the national average (Lazio, Abruzzo, Molise, Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania).

    The cities chosen are 14 and the number of buses involved in the 28 days of the campaign are 17,738 of which 4,788 with outdoor dynamic advertising (measuring 5x1 meters; 3x0.70 meters; 1.20 x0.70 meters) and 12,950 buses with 3 internal advertisements measuring 70x25 cm each, for a total of 38,850 internal signs and 43,563 total advertising spaces.