The Emerging Antimicrobial Resistance Society (EARS), a non-profit organization, has enrolled about 11,000 new members during its nationwide Awareness Week on Antibiotic Knowledge and Education (Awake) campaign, the first initiative of its kind in India to promote the rational use of antibiotics across India between November 16 to 23.

Applauding EARS volunteers for making the campaign a grand success, EARS chairperson Dr Manu Chaudhary said, “We have got a tremendous response and we will take this campaign to its logical conclusion by continuing with these efforts in times to come. We thank the leading microbiologists, scientists and doctors who played a crucial role in making this campaign successful by constantly guiding and motivating us.”

The Awake campaign was a joint initiative supported by the Venus Medicine Research Centre (VMRC) and several leading medical and academic institutions of the country, including the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), the Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), Panjab University, Chandigarh and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, KIMS Hospital, Bengaluru, Nair Hospital Mumbai, Prime Hospital and Gandhi Medical College, Hyderabad and many more.

“During the weeklong campaign, we propagated the importance of creating awareness among the masses about the dangers of antibiotic misuse, stopping the over-the-counter sale of these medicines, following hygiene and infection control practices in hospitals, especially intensive care units (ICUs). We also administered oaths to volunteering doctors, pharmacists and students to do everything they can to stop the misuse of antibiotics and keep the environment clean and healthy,” said Dr Chaudhary.


NIPER Director Prof KK Bhutani appreciated the initiative of EARS and stressed on the need to make people aware about the consequences of misuse of antibiotics. “It is one of the best initiatives and we support it whole heartedly. The over-the-counter sale of antibiotics is the biggest challenge before us. Doctors should also act with caution while prescribing antibiotics. An effective drug regulatory mechanism is the need of the hour,” he said.


Holding banners with slogans like “In cough, cold and sneeze, no antibiotics please”, “Use antibiotics wisely and be healthy,” “Use Antibiotics as Advised, when prescribed” and “Take action today to save tomorrow”, EARS volunteers, joined by doctors, pharmacists, medical, pharmacy students and people from all walks of society conducted awareness walks in New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chandigarh to motivate people to use antibiotics intelligently, educate them about ways to control antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and drive home the importance of hygiene and sanitation in containing this threat.

Named “Awake and be the change”, this first campaign of its kind in the country sought to avert one of the world’s “gravest public health threats” by encouraging the judicious use of antibiotics through a series of activities. Apart from awareness walks, EARS conducted an awareness campaign through posters simultaneously in all the cities on November 17 and 20.

On November 18, EARS organised a webinar for doctors on the antibiotic stewardship programme at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi. Doctors from all over the country were invited to the webinar, which was presented by Dr Chand Wattal, head, microbiology department, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. Dr Wattal shared the essentials of the antibiotic stewardship programme, including the quality parameters to check the data on antimicrobial resistance, the challenges in the way of implementation of the antibiotic stewardship programme and the procedures and practices followed by Sir Ganga Ram Hospital under the stewardship programme.

EARS also generated awareness about the right use of antibiotics by sending across bulk SMSes to people and holding one-on-one meetings with chemists in an effort to persuade them not to sell antibiotics without doctor’s prescription.

Various seminars and conferences were organized for paramedical/nursing staff and doctors in medical and pharmacy colleges across India to educate them about AMR and its implications in the absence of adequate preventive measures throughout the week.

In its effort to facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the incidence, causes and patterns of AMR in India, EARS has adopted a multipronged approach with focus on encouraging research and innovation, rationalising antibiotic use, facilitating surveillance programmes and raising awareness about the right use of antibiotics. “We are exploring ways to evolve a consensus on long-term solutions and maintaining a comprehensive surveillance and information system to link a network of hospitals across the country by collecting, comparing and analyzing data on AMR. EARS has developed a software for antibiotic resistance surveillance called Electronic Bio-gram Information Network (e-BIN) across 15 states and set up 150 centres for data collection and analysis. We have mapped emerging AMR patterns for more than 10 antibiotics/combinations for close to 15,000 bacterial strains. We have also tied up with research institutes like BFMC which are working on safer, more effective and economical breakthrough innovations,” said Dr Chaudhary.