Antibiotic Amnesty Campaign 2023
Antimicrobial resistance is one of the biggest global health issues of our time. We must act, together.
After a successful campaign last year, the veterinary profession is coming together again this November to hold an Antibiotic Amnesty. Working together we will encourage clients to return any unused or out-of-date antibiotics to the practice.
What is the issue?
Antibiotics are essential to treat many conditions in both humans and animals. But they must be used carefully, to ensure they are effective when patients really need them.
Clients will often have a stash of antibiotics at home, either from a previous pet or a current prescription that they didn’t finish giving. The temptation to self-treat their pet, or a neighbour’s pet, is higher if they are easily accessible.
Antibiotics disposed of inappropriately, such as in the water system or in the bins, can lead to environmental contamination, increasing the risk of resistant bacteria, damaging the environment and affecting local wildlife.
What can you do in your practice?
- Talk about the Antibiotic Amnesty with your practice team and share the information in the resources available below.
- Have conversations with clients about antimicrobial resistance and the risks of not using antimicrobials responsibly and encourage the return of any unused antibiotics. You can help support these conversations by:
- Displaying the poster/s below in your waiting room.
- Sharing the below resources on your practice social media channels and website.
- Adding stickers/ notes to any prescriptions.
- Including details of the amnesty in your practice newsletter.
- Modifying vaccination reminders to mention this initiative.
- Contacting owners who have had antibiotics dispensed in recent months to tell them about the amnesty and prompt them to return any unused antibiotics – especially if they are due in again soon.
- Using the hashtag for the campaign activity across your social channels #AntibioticAmnesty
After the Antibiotic Amnesty
- Record the number of conversations had with clients about returning antibiotics – not only the number but also any useful feedback.
- Record the number of antibiotics returned to your practice during November.
- Feedback this number to the Amnesty partners via this link
Campaign Toolkit and Resources for practices
Resources for veterinary practices
These resources have been designed to help you hold your own Antibiotic Amnesty in your practice. If you have suggestions of materials that would be helpful to your practice, or if you have additional resources that would be suitable for this page, please get in touch with us via [email protected]
- What is the Antibiotic Amnesty? – in this short podcast, Fergus Allerton explains what the Amnesty is and how practices and clients can get involved. (13 minutes)
- Guidance document for veterinary teams [226 KB] - we suggest circulating it to your team, printing it for team meetings and putting it on your practice noticeboard.
- Summary guidance for veterinary teams - [158 KB] - this is a short guidance.
- Practice poster [53 KB] - this poster has been designed to promote the Antibiotic Amnesty in all UK veterinary practices.
- Practice poster - equine [339 KB] - this poster has been designed for equine teams to display in their practices.
- Practice poster - small animal [335 KB] - this poster has been designed for small animal teams to display in their practices.
- Copy for your practice newsletter or social media [152 KB] - this content can be used to promote the Antibiotic Amnesty in your practice newsletter, on your website and on social media.
- Bring back unused drugs sticker- green [476 KB] - this sticker can be printed and put on packets of tablets and prescription bags.
- Bring back unused drugs sticker - yellow [552 KB] - this sticker can be printed and put on packets of tablets and prescription bags.
- Antibiotic Amnesty logo [13 KB] - this logo can be used on your website, social media channels or in your newsletter.
- Antibiotic Amnesty logo - safeguarding [15 KB] - this logo can be used on your website, social media channels or in your newsletter.
- Antibiotic Amnesty animation [2563 KB] - this 48 second animation can be used on social media or featured on practice screens.
- Client information sheet [125 KB] - this document can be printed and given to a client during a consultation.
Antibiotic Amnesty in the media
- Antibiotic Amnesty 2022 [PDF 2.15 MB] - article by Fergus Allerton and Ian Ramsey in BSAVA Companion, https://doi.org/10.22233/20412495.1122.18
- Veterinary Sector And NHS Join Forces For Pilot Antibiotic Amnesty In November - article on VetClick from November 2022
- Vet practices offer to take back unwanted medicines - article on Pet Business World from November 2022
Information for clients
- What is the Antibiotic Amnesty? – in this short podcast, Fergus Allerton explains what the Amnesty is and how practices and clients can get involved. (13 minutes)
- Antibiotic Amnesty client information sheet [40 KB] – helpful information for clients about the Antibiotic Amnesty.
You can visit our AMR Hub where you will find freely accessible, evidence-based knowledge and resources, including communication and behaviour change skills, to help you establish responsible antimicrobial stewardship in practice. You can use these resources to continue the efforts to tackle antimicrobial resistance after the Antibiotic Amnesty.