A new government campaign has been launched to help tackle the threat of antibiotic resistance (AMR) in young adults amid concerns about medicines being obtained ‘incorrectly’ and used at a higher rate.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is piloting a new digital campaign using a comedic mascot character names ‘Andi Biotic’ to see whether it can ‘capture people’s attention’ on the issue of AMR.

Over the course of the six-week long campaign aimed at 18-34-year-olds, ‘Andi Biotic’ will feature on digital channels trying to answer people’s uncertainties about when and how to take antibiotics to help preserve their effectiveness.

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It will be used on UKHSA’s social media channels and at participating pharmacies and GP surgeries throughout April and May.

The UKHSA said it wanted to highlight a variety of scenarios to make sure people are taking antibiotics in the right way, including:

  • not taking antibiotics for colds and flu – which the UKHSA stressed they do not work for, and remains one of the biggest misconceptions about taking antibiotics
  • only taking antibiotics when you have been prescribed them and taking them as directed by a healthcare professional
  • not saving antibiotics for future use.

The campaign comes as a new attitudinal survey of almost 6,000 UK residents suggested almost half of the UK population (42%) are concerned about how AMR affects them.

In this self-reported attitudinal survey, the UKHSA said a higher proportion of young adults reported taking antibiotics in the previous 12 months compared to those in the general population (45% compared to 33%).

Concerningly, results also found that nearly half (41%) of young adults obtain antibiotics ‘incorrectly’, compared to 23% in the general population. This included buying antibiotics 'in a shop that was not a pharmacy', obtaining them while abroad without a prescription from a healthcare professional, over the internet, or using medicines originally prescribed for someone else, the government agency noted.

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Professor Dame Jenny Harries, chief executive of UKHSA, said: ‘Antibiotic resistance is impacting people every day in this country and is one of the biggest threats to our future health.

‘But we can all help tackle the problem. Everyone, especially young people, has the power to help change this by following simple steps to take antibiotics correctly and only when they have been prescribed by a healthcare professional.’

Minister for public health and prevention, Ashley Dalton, warned AMR was ‘ a significant public health threat which demands action’.

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‘By empowering the public with knowledge about when and how to take antibiotics, together we can help preserve their effectiveness,’ she said.

Earlier this year, the National Audit Office warned the government had made 'limited progress' on AMR.