Join the Antibiotic Amnesty and Keep AntibioticsWorking

Do you have any unused or old antibiotics at home?

People across Pennine Lancashire are being asked to return them to any local

pharmacy as part of an Antibiotic Amnesty in support of World Antibiotic

Awareness Week (18-24 November).

Antibiotics are important medicines for treating infections caused by germs called

bacteria. The more we use antibiotics the more bacteria are able to find ways to survive

the antibiotic treatment. This is known as antibiotic resistance and is a huge threat

to our future health. Without effective antibiotics many routine treatments will

become increasingly dangerous. Setting broken bones, operations and treatments

for cancer all rely on having antibiotics that work.

You should only take antibiotics when they have been prescribed for you by a

healthcare professional. Unless your doctor or nurse has told you to you should never

save antibiotics for later, and never give them to someone else.

Remember, GPs will always prescribe antibiotics when they are required and by taking

unused antibiotics in your cupboard without a prescription, the risk of resistance is

increased.

People can hand in unused or out of date antibiotics at any community pharmacy in

Pennine Lancashire as part of the amnesty.

You can locate your nearest pharmacy on the NHS website.

You can pledge to become an Antibiotic Guardian here.

All material in this section is aimed at health care professionals, but is information currently held in the public domain, members of the

public seeking advice on medicine-related matters are advised to speak with their GP, pharmacist, nurse or contact NHS111 Service

Email: info.elmmb@nhs.net