Personal stories

World Antibiotic Awareness Week aims to increase awareness of global antibiotic resistance and to encourage best practices among the general public, health workers and policy-makers. This year, the week focuses on health care workers and the vital role they play in preventing the spread of antibiotic resistance. In keeping with this theme, WHO/Europe has interviewed health workers from across the European Region about their experiences with antibiotic resistance and how they are working to stop it.

A doctor works to spread awareness and stop antibiotic resistance in Armenia

Hrachuhi Ghazaryan is a medical doctor who has worked at one of the largest paediatric hospitals in Armenia since 2006, when she first joined as a medical resident. She also teaches at a medical university. Over the past decade, she says she has seen a marked increase in cases of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among her patients, though the lack of robust data collection on AMR in Armenia makes it difficult to specify how much the problem has grown.
Fighting for the proper use of antibiotics: the experience of one doctor in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Dr Katarina Stavric has been practicing medicine for 26 years. She is a paediatrician working at University Children’s Hospital in Skopje, capital of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. She is a specialist in the Department of Immunology, and since 2010 she has also filled the role of Coordinator of the Centre for Family Medicine. She says she has seen a rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria since she started her career in medicine.
Handling antibiotics with care in Georgia

Dr Marika Tsereteli is an infectious disease specialist at the High Technology Medical Centre, University Clinic, in Tbilisi, Georgia. Here, she answers questions about her experiences with antibiotic resistance.
Treating antibiotic-resistant infections among children in Uzbekistan

Dr Nigora Tadjieva works for the Research Institute of Epidemiology, Microbiology and Infectious Disease in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. She has 20 years of experience, the last five of them as head of the department for acute intestinal infections in children under the age of one. Each year she treats approximately four infections that are resistant to antibiotics, primarily those caused by Salmonella and less frequently Shigella.
Experiences with antibiotic resistance: the perspective of a doctor from Tajikistan

Dr Turakhon Sharipov is the Deputy Head Physician at the Municipal Infectious Diseases Hospital in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. He routinely deals with cases of antibiotic resistance, most frequently related to pulmonary, intestinal and skin infections. Here, he discusses his experiences and offers advice to other health workers.
Educating health workers and patients in Kazakhstan about antibiotic resistance

Dr Bekturgan Karin is head of the neonatology unit at the National Research Centre for Maternal and Child Health in Astana, Kazakhstan. He has worked as a neonatologist since 2000. Over the course of his career he has treated patients with hospital-acquired infections, including some antibiotic-resistant infections.
Dutch television host shares personal experience with superbug infection

Daphne Deckers is a Dutch author, television host and actor. She campaigns to raise awareness about antibiotic resistance, following her personal experience with an E. coli superbug infection in 2014.