A new online platform that aims to raise awareness of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) through storytelling was launched yesterday.
Created by the Partnership to Fight Infectious Diseases and backed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other health groups, The Global AMR Diary will collect the stories of patients, parents, providers, and others affected by drug-resistant bacteria, with the ultimate goal of raising public awareness and shaping policy to address the looming public health crisis.
"WHO has been sounding the alarm on antimicrobial resistance for decades, but many people still don’t feel it can affect them personally," Danilo Lo Fo Wong, of the WHO Regional Office for Europe, said in a press release. "The global AMR community needs to find other ways to communicate this message clearly. Personal stories can break the silence and bring the impact of AMR closer to home."
The importance of 'impactful narratives'
The launch coincides with a new communications campaign—"AMR is invisible. I am not"—from the WHO Task Force of AMR Survivors. The campaign features stories from survivors and advocates, along with media and social media toolkits.
The website was launched in tandem with the publication of Diary of a Dying Girl by Mallory Smith, who died of a resistant Burkholderia cepacia infection in 2017. The hope is that Smith's story will encourage others to share their experience and build the case for coordinated action.
"Global health leaders have long been gathering impactful narratives of those affected by AMR," said Smith's mother, Diane Shader Smith. "The Global AMR Diary brings these stories together in a shared commitment to address one of the most daunting health and humanitarian challenges of our times."