New campaign urges public to take action to counter infection

The Health Promotion Agency for Northern Ireland (HPA) today launched a campaign urging everyone to take action to help protect their own health. The new public information campaign promotes two major messages – ‘don’t use antibiotics when you don’t need them’ and ‘wash your hands regularly’.

The campaign incorporates two television advertisements which are supported by posters and information leaflets. The key messages, Protect antibiotics so they can protect you and Help prevent infection - wash your hands regularly represent the first phase of the public information work commissioned through the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety’s Antimicrobial Resistance Action Plan (AMRAP).

This action plan aims to combat the continuing overuse of antibiotics which has led to them becoming less effective at fighting infections. Antibiotics can be life-saving in serious infections caused by bacteria, such as kidney infections, pneumonia, meningitis and blood poisoning. They do not fight viral infections such as the symptoms of common coughs, colds or flu, despite many people using them for this purpose. Neither are they beneficial in most cases of sore throat, sore ear or sinusitis.

Speaking during the launch Dr Hugh Webb, Chairman of the Regional AMRAP Steering Committee, said: “We need to encourage the careful use of antibiotics so they can remain as powerful as possible. Antibiotics are becoming less effective at fighting infections because bacteria can adapt and find ways to survive the action of an antibiotic. The more antibiotics that are consumed in the population, the less effective they become as the disease-causing bacteria build up resistance against them. By taking antibiotics only when necessary, we can help ensure they remain effective.”

Running alongside the message of limiting the use of antibiotics is the message promoting the importance of clean hands. Dr Webb said: “We cannot underestimate the power of the relationship between hand washing and infection control. Research has shown that clean hands can reduce the risk of spreading germs by around 45%. We regularly encounter disease-causing germs and they are spread when our unwashed hands pass them on by direct personal contact, or by contaminating our environment. Germs spread this way can cause illnesses like diarrhoea and vomiting, food poisoning, colds and sometimes life-threatening diseases like meningitis and hepatitis. So the message is plain and simple – soap and water can stop the spread of disease.”

The campaign also stresses that how we wash our hands is really important. Basically we should use soap and warm, running water, taking care to wash all the surfaces thoroughly including the wrists, palms, backs of hands, between fingers and under fingernails. Rubbing hands together for up to 20 seconds, rinsing away all soap and then patting dry with a clean paper or fabric towel to avoid chapping is the best way to keep germs away.

The television advertising, which will support ongoing public information in this area, commences today and posters and leaflets will be available from the Central Health Promotion Resource Service in each Health and Social Services Board area, GP surgeries and pharmacies.

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Notes to the editor
Research carried out by the HPA shows that when asked, 97% of GPs often felt under pressure to prescribe antibiotics even when it was clinically inappropriate. If a patient was refused an antibiotic, 74% of GPs reported that the patient would have gone to another GP for an antibiotic. This illustrates the public’s expectation that an antibiotic is a cure-all pill.