World AMR Awareness Week
World Health Assembly-mandated WHO campaign
World Health Assembly-mandated WHO campaign
This authority record treats the observance as a fixed annual date. The same month and day can be reused unless a stronger source changes the rule. Public-holiday or government status is never inferred from the observance name alone.
Overview
World AMR Awareness Week is observed from 18 to 24 November as a global campaign to improve understanding of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and encourage action across human, animal, plant and environmental health.
The campaign began in 2015 in the context of the WHO Global Action Plan on antimicrobial resistance. Its public name has broadened over time as the campaign moved from an initial antibiotic-focused label toward the wider One Health framing of antimicrobial resistance.
Why it matters
AMR occurs when microorganisms no longer respond to medicines that were previously effective against them. The Week is therefore not simply an awareness slogan: it links communication with prescribing, infection prevention, surveillance, agriculture, environmental action and stewardship.
Because AMR spans multiple sectors, the current campaign is coordinated through the Quadripartite partnership of FAO, UNEP, WHO and WOAH.
History
On 26 May 2015, the Sixty-eighth World Health Assembly adopted WHA68.7 and endorsed the Global Action Plan on antimicrobial resistance. The plan identified a global annual awareness campaign as an activity under its first objective on communication, education and training.
WHO launched the first World Antibiotic Awareness Week from 16 to 22 November 2015. Official WHO campaign archives show the campaign later operating under the broader name World Antimicrobial Awareness Week.
On 6 June 2023, the Quadripartite explicitly rebranded World Antimicrobial Awareness Week as World AMR Awareness Week. The current campaign is observed from 18 to 24 November every year.
How the observance developed
This timeline is assembled only from verified provenance fields. Missing stages are omitted rather than inferred.
World Health Organization through the Global Action Plan on antimicrobial resistance
WHO states that the 2015 Global Action Plan identified organization of a global annual awareness campaign as an activity under its first objective, and that the annual campaign was thereby established.
World Health Organization / Sixty-eighth World Health Assembly
WHA68.7 and the Global Action Plan on antimicrobial resistance
First documented observance
WHO explicitly described the 16–22 November 2015 campaign as the first World Antibiotic Awareness Week.
Rebranded World Antimicrobial Awareness Week as World AMR Awareness Week while retaining the WAAW acronym.
Quadripartite (FAO, UNEP, WHO and WOAH) · Quadripartite rebranding announcement for WAAW
Quadripartite: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Health Organization (WHO), and World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH)
The 2023 official rebranding announcement identifies these four organizations as the Quadripartite coordinating the global annual campaign.
What the evidence establishes
Verified institutional roles and milestones are shown first. Fields that the reviewed sources do not establish remain fail-closed and are available below without competing with the confirmed record.
2 fields not established in reviewed sources
Later institutional actions
Later recognition, renaming, mergers or date changes are kept separate from original establishment.
Ways to observe
Review local guidance on when antibiotics are and are not appropriate, using public-health or professional sources rather than informal advice.
Map one AMR pathway across human health, animal health, food systems and the environment to see why a One Health response is necessary.
Use campaign materials to discuss infection prevention, vaccination, diagnostics, stewardship and responsible antimicrobial use.
Useful facts
World AMR Awareness Week is currently observed from 18 to 24 November.
The Global Action Plan on antimicrobial resistance was endorsed by WHA68.7 on 26 May 2015.
The first World Antibiotic Awareness Week ran from 16 to 22 November 2015.
The Quadripartite announced the current World AMR Awareness Week name on 6 June 2023.
The Quadripartite comprises FAO, UNEP, WHO and WOAH.
Topic and context
What this page does not assume
- Keep the source-defined country, community, organizer or institutional scope; do not silently broaden it.
- Do not treat the title alone as proof of government recognition or public-holiday status.
- Do not add a creator, founding story or origin claim unless the supporting evidence establishes it.
- Health Information Not Medical Advice.
Evidence & sources
Repeated links from the authority record, institutional provenance and editorial guide research are consolidated here. Badges show how each source is used; a contextual source is never treated as proof of establishment on its own.
World Health Organization — WHA68.7, Global action plan on antimicrobial resistance (opens in a new tab)
WHO — World AMR Awareness Week (opens in a new tab)
Dedicated Authoritative Page
World Health Organization — WAAW will now be World AMR Awareness Week (opens in a new tab)
World Health Organization — World Antibiotic Awareness Week 2015 (opens in a new tab)
Understand it, compare it, then explore further
Start with the most common factual questions, then use reviewed distinctions and related authority records to understand where this observance fits.
Frequently asked questions
When is World AMR Awareness Week?
18–24 November The stored recurrence guidance is: 18–24 November.
Does World AMR Awareness Week fall on the same date every year?
The authority record classifies it as fixed annual, so its month and day are reusable unless stronger evidence changes the rule.
Is World AMR Awareness Week an official public holiday?
The authority record verifies it within this scope: World Health Organization official health campaign. That recognition does not by itself make it a statutory public holiday; the site only makes public-holiday claims when the supporting authority record explicitly does so.
Who established or recognizes World AMR Awareness Week?
The reviewed provenance layer identifies World Health Organization / Sixty-eighth World Health Assembly as the proclaiming or establishing body. The proposer or originator is recorded separately as World Health Organization through the Global Action Plan on antimicrobial resistance. Current facilitation or coordination is recorded as Quadripartite: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Health Organization (WHO), and World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).
Is World AMR Awareness Week international or country-specific?
The record has international or global institutional scope: World Health Organization official health campaign. That does not mean every country treats the date as a public holiday or observes it in the same way.
How is this page verified?
The factual layer is source-backed and keeps its date rule, scope, provenance and editorial guardrails attached to the authority record. This record was checked on 2026-09-05.
When is World AMR Awareness Week?
The current campaign is observed every year from 18 to 24 November.
When did the campaign begin?
WHO launched the first World Antibiotic Awareness Week from 16 to 22 November 2015 after the World Health Assembly endorsed the Global Action Plan on antimicrobial resistance.
Why did the name change?
In 2023 the Quadripartite rebranded World Antimicrobial Awareness Week as World AMR Awareness Week after global consultations, explaining that “AMR” better represented the resistance challenge while retaining the WAAW acronym.