What to know
Be Antibiotics Aware, a CDC educational effort, complements USAAW by providing partners with key messages, sample social media posts, and graphics and videos they can use to spread the word within their organization.
Overview
CDC commits to health equity and antibiotic stewardship
Antibiotics can save lives and are critical tools for treating common and serious infections, including those that can lead to sepsis.
Any time antibiotics or antifungals are used, they can cause side effects and contribute to the development of antimicrobial resistance, one of the most urgent threats to the public's health.
Antimicrobial resistance happens when germs, like bacteria and fungi, develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them. More than 2.8 million antimicrobial-resistant infections occur in the United States each year, and more than 35,000 people die as a result. Many more die from complications from antimicrobial-resistant infections.
Improving how healthcare professionals prescribe and how patients take antibiotics can help keep patients healthy from adverse events, fight antimicrobial resistance, and help ensure these life-saving drugs will be available for future generations.
USAAW involves collaboration amongst CDC, state-based programs, nonprofit partners, and for-profit partners. You can join official USAAW events or host your own. There are many ways to get involved!
CDC's educational effort, Be Antibiotics Aware: Smart Use, Best Care, is the year-round effort to improve antibiotic prescribing and use and combat antimicrobial resistance.
The observance is an international collaboration, coinciding with:
Partner activities
Advancing Health Equity through Antimicrobial Stewardship
Partner organizations—including federal agencies, health departments, professional societies, corporations, and advocacy groups—are critical to the success of U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week and to raising awareness about the importance of appropriate antibiotic use throughout the year.
In the past, more than 300 organizations have participated in the observance in a variety of ways—from joining activities and events to using resources from our toolkit to post to their websites, share on social media, distribute via newsletters, and advertise.
We invite you to participate in U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week and help us share the Be Antibiotics Aware message with your partners, colleagues, and friends. Follow us on social media (@CDCgov, @CDC_NCEZID and @CDC_AR on X (formerly known as Twitter), CDC on Facebook, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on LinkedIn, and CDCgov on Instagram), bookmark our Safe Healthcare blog, and sign up for CDC.gov email updates.
Order FREE print resources
How to participate
Partner call: USAAW 2023
September 12, 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
Missed the presentation? Click here
Check out CDC's U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week webpage to help spread the word.
Share social media messages, images, and animated graphics on your organization’s social media channels. Remember to use #USAAW23 and #BeAntibioticsAware in every post! For our global X (formerly known as Twitter) Storm/Relay, remember to use #AntimicrobialResistance and #WAAW.
Print and share handouts and posters with patients and healthcare professionals, available in English and Spanish.
Play videos (available in English and Spanish) on TV screens and iPads in your medical office, pharmacy, waiting room, or lobby.
Review and share the Antibiotic Stewardship Resource Bundles as part of your organization's U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week promotion efforts.