World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) is an annual event that takes place globally from the 18th – 24th of November to increase awareness of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) which is considered the “silent pandemic” spreading rapidly around the world.
- What is antimicrobial resistance (AMR)? AMR is what happens when we misuse or overuse antimicrobials (drugs such as antibiotics and antimalarials) and they don’t work, so the germs become stronger and begin to resist these drugs which are designed to kill them.
The goal of WAAW is to educate and encourage best practices among the general public, health workers, animal health professionals, farmers and policy makers to avoid the further emergence and spread of drug-resistant germs and infections.
We chose Tuesday 23rd November, 2021 to host an inter-school spelling bee competition to commemorate this year’s WAAW. Our goal was to engage young people as key stakeholders in the fight against antimicrobial resistance and to increase awareness and understanding of antimicrobial awareness, as well as highlight the role each individual can play in this public health challenge.
The competition was held in two categories (Junior and Senior) from 4 public schools in Lagos State and each school was represented by 13 students (5 contestants and 8 supporters), making a total of 52 student participants during the event.
The competition featured some words from public health and medicine that were easy to spell and relatable for participants, as well as more difficult words which they learnt during the event, thereby creating an atmosphere filled with excitement and knowledge sharing for the students.
The competition was filled with highlights including a tie breaker for the senior category to decide the 1st and 2nd runner up after a tie in the final round of the competition. Check out the recap video here:
At the end of the spelling bee, we gave gifts to the students which included branded notebooks and certificates of participation, cash rewards and certificates of achievement for the top 3 contestants in each category (Junior and Secondary), and a plaque for the winning schools.
Check out more shots from the day in the gallery below:
