It has already been ten years since the Czech Chamber of Pharmacists (ČLnK) has participated in European Antibiotic Awareness Day held by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the first time with a similar event “Antibiotic Awareness Week “ which took place on 18th – 22nd November. During this week all kinds of antibiotic awareness campaigns held for the public take place all around the Czech Republic.

Five years ago the Czech Pharmaceutical Students’ Association joined as well. On Monday (18th of November), there was a lecture called “The Truth About Antibiotics “ held at the Faculty of Pharmacy of Charles University with the help of Loono, a non-profit medicine student organization. The events of Loono are very popular, not only among students. So, it was no surprise that the lecture hall was fully booked in a minute. In the audience, there were listeners from both pharmaceutical and medicine faculties as well as the public. The lecture was held in the form of a discussion where the listeners could ask questions through an internet app. There were four professionals invited to speak:  MUDr. Pavla Paterová, PharmDr. Petr Jílek, CSc, MUDr. Milan Trojánek, Ph.D. and MUDr. Jolana Cermanová, PhD. Many topics such as the proper use of antibiotics, the development of resistance were discussed and we also clarified commonly known myths about antibiotics.

On the 21st of November, the Antibiotic Awareness Campaign Live took place in the shopping center Futurum in Hradec Králové, where a group of students from the faculties of Medicine and Pharmacy met to spread awareness about the proper antibiotic use. These volunteers were stopping passerby with questionnaires provided by ČLnK. The aim of this event is to refute the myths about the efficiency of antibiotics on viral infections and flu, to teach the public the proper prevention against these illnesses and to inform the public about the so-called CRP test. This year was very successful. Many volunteers gathered to answer and discuss all kinds of questions from the passerby who were not afraid of white coats and stopped to learn new information.

In total, 368 questionnaires were filled in. Thanks to the information gained by the questionnaires, it will be clear how educated this country is on this topic, how much people believe in doctors and whether there is or isn’t antibiotic overuse.

- Kristýna Blahnová

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