Bella Moss Foundation and NOAH join forces to #BeattheBugs this World Antibiotic Awareness Week
20 November 2017
To coincide with World Antibiotic Awareness Week (13-19th November), the Bella Moss Foundation and the National Office of Animal Health (NOAH) have teamed up to survey the depth of pet owners’ knowledge on the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and the organisations are calling on the support of the veterinary and pet health industry.
In collaboration with NOAH and endorsed by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), the short survey aims to seek out how much people know about antibiotics and the relevance of them to their families and their pets, as well as the effectiveness of the Bella Moss Foundation’s #BeattheBugs video in improving their understanding. NOAH and the Bella Moss Foundation are calling on veterinary professionals and others involved with pet health to spread the word about the survey, which is available here, and encourage their clients to complete it.
The one-minute animated #BeattheBugs video was launched during World Antibiotic Awareness Week 2016 to communicate important messages around the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In order to tailor their future communications effectively around such an important issue, this feedback on the clarity and effectiveness of the video will be very important to all three organisations see how it supports understanding on prescribers’ decisions about antibiotics, and helps improve client compliance.
Bella Moss Foundation trustee Chris Laurence said: “People need to understand that antimicrobial resistance is relevant to them to realise its importance. We want to know if the #BeattheBugs video is an effective way of informing them and the survey will give people’s views before and after seeing it.”
Dawn Howard, NOAH Chief Executive said: “NOAH is again delighted to support this year’s World Antibiotic Awareness Week and we believe this survey will help raise awareness of the role we all have in keeping antibiotics effective. While the veterinary and medical profession commit to responsible prescribing, we can all play our part in heeding their advice by trusting when antibiotics are not prescribed and following the professionals’ directions in taking them. That way, antibiotics will be effective to help us and our pets when needed, for years to come.”