YOUth Against AMR! – AMSA-Philippines

Name of the activity: YOUth Against AMR!

Country/NMO: AMSA-Philippines

Program: Communicable Diseases

Contact information: contact [email protected] to get in touch with the Activity Coordinator

Type of the activity: First-time Activity

Category: Campaign

Focus area: Reduce incidence of Antimicrobial Resistance

Sustainable Development Goals addressed: SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being)

Problem statement:

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a multi-faceted problem of crisis magnitude with significant economic and human health consequences. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that if no action is done, AMR could lead to 10 million people dying from AMR per year by 2050. In the Philippines, AMR remains a threat — with low AMR awareness at its core. UP MSSR believes that the youth can advance stewardship in their own communities and influence change through innovative strategies.

Target groups:

• Other Students
• Youth

Beneficiaries:

• General population
• Youth

Objectives:

1. To reach 10,000 accounts on social media through a Tiktok contest on AMR participated in by Filipino highschool students and other campaigns by November 24, 2021.
2. To increase youth participation by 70% in discourse on One Health and the solutions to AMR through an online conference by November 20, 2021.
3. To empower highschool students to communicate about AMR within their communities by November 20, 2021.

Indicators of Success:

1. The Tiktok contest will have over 100 Filipino highschool student participants with fair distribution across socio-economic and ethno-linguistic groups, resulting in 100,000 reactions to the campaign by November 24, 2021.
2. The workshop-discussion will have had 100 registrants with fair distribution across socio-economic and ethno-linguistic groups, with 200 more tuning in through the livestream.
3. The workshop participants will have been able to produce a viable communication plan for educating their community about AMR by the end of the discussion.
4. Overall satisfaction rating of 8.5/10, measured through the MSSR Project Evaluation Survey.

Methodology:

After an orientation with Dr. Berba (National AMS Chair), a coalition of student organizations led by UP MSSR organized itself into various committees, building a centralized database and workflow prior to calling for volunteers. Upon calling for student volunteers from various health professions, contest guidelines, brand books, and marketing packages were developed. Through intensive preparations involving biweekly update meetings, we were able to reach more student organizations, launch promotional campaigns on Facebook and Instagram (e.g., AMR quizbees with giveaways, coordinated posting), and call for participants for the contest and conference.  The conference featured talks, games, and breakout sessions on AMR and advocacy building, and was slated on Nov. 20 within the celebration of AMR Week. Meanwhile, the Tiktok contest was launched in early Nov. to end in Dec. 10. Both the conference and awarding ceremony were done on Zoom and livestreamed on Facebook for greater reach.

Plans for evaluation:

We will utilize the following methods of evaluation:

• Pre-event Registration (containing questions on baseline
• knowledge on AMR and expectations of the event)
• MSSR Project Evaluation Questionnaire (containing Likert scales
• and open-ended questions about the event) for Participants
• Project evaluation Survey for organizing committee
• Post-event Debriefing and Feedback with stakeholder
• representatives and organizing committee

External collaborations:

Main collaborators: UP Medicine Student Council (UP MSC), UPM College of Public Health Student Council (CPHSC), UP Pharmaceutical Association Student Council (UPPhASC)

Funding (Grant) from Philippine One Health University Network, Southeast Asian One Health University Network [through Dr. Berba (DOH)].

Technical support from Department of Health, Department of Education, and World Health Organization – Western Pacific Regional Office.

13 other student organizations served as publicity partners.