​Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz Hospital Initiates the “Antibiotic Awareness" Campaign 

Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz Hospital of the Ministry of National Guard's Health Affairs; initiated the “Antibiotic Awareness" Campaign. The Infection Prevention & Control department, the leader of this campaign, aims to improve society's awareness level about antibiotics and to safely administer them, in addition to identifying the possible harm of antibiotics misuse without medical prescriptions. Mr. Mansour Bin Nasser Al Askar, Executive Director of Operations, and Dr. Turki Al Wasaidi, Executive Director of Medical Services, with the participation of the Pharmaceutical Services, Nursing, and Laboratory Departments, initiated the campaign's activities. The campaign activities will continue until Thursday, the 24th of November, 2022.

The awareness seminars addressed various topics, most notably the importance of hand hygiene, multidrug-resistant germs prevalence, preserving antimicrobials as a valuable resource, infection control precautions to prevent the spread of drug-resistant organisms, the impact of inappropriate use of antimicrobials on health, drug resistance and inappropriate antimicrobials use in the animal industry, good & bad bacteria, Bacterial infections (appropriate use of antibiotics) and viral infections (without the use of antibiotics).

The Director of the Infection Prevention and Control Department, Adult Infectious Diseases Consultant, Dr. Syed Nazeer, explained that the campaign aims to educate the community and medical workers particularly regarding the most prominent advantages of antibiotics and the impact of their misuse, pointing out the importance of continuous awareness in this field due to its fundamental impact on the quality of patient care.

The Executive Director of Medical Services, Dr. Turki Al Wasaidi, commented; that these campaigns are intended to establish and improve the level of awareness regarding possible risks. This is the most essential and first line of health defense: prevention, which contributes to avoiding the potential impact of misuse. Therefore, we are keen to educate the community about one of the essential elements of treatment and healthcare programs: antibiotics.