The CMA Foundation's AWARE Project is active in bringing antibiotic resistance education to healthcare providers, patients, and consumers in California. Much of our ongoing success is due to our partnerships with organizations such as physicians, school nurses, parent-teacher and childcare associations, health plans, and pharmaceutical companies. With the support of California's concerned citizens and professionals, the AWARE message is loud and strong. We thank our partners for their enduring commitment to this project, and look forward to a bright future. The following are some highlights of AWARE's accomplishments:

Successful Media Campaign
AWARE's media campaign includes a segment on 48 Hours and a series of Public Service Announcements starring Bill Nye 'The Science Guy' and Dick Van Dyke. Together with 5 radio broadcasts and 30 print articles, AWARE was able to reach over 34,000,000 viewers in California and nationally with our Antibiotic Resistance message. Developed in California, the public service announcements have been used in several other states including Wisconsin, Utah and Arizona.

Legislative Hearing: A World Without Antibiotics? The Impact of Antibiotic Resistance
In February of 2002, CMA Foundation held a legislative hearing in order to provide testimony to facts surrounding antibiotic resistance. Experts in the field of infectious disease and antibiotic resistance, as well as representatives from organizations that work to address this issue, were invited to provide testimony before the Assembly Health Committee. The hearing was divided into three panels, with each panel addressing questions pertinent to furthering community understanding of the importance of this issue.

click here to download the Briefing document (50kb)

Establishment of a System to Track Antibiotic Resistance
The AWARE Project established a process to track resistance trends forStreptococcus pneumoniae infections in California. It is the most common bacterial cause of meningitis, otitis media, and community-acquired pneumonia, and is a major cause of sinusitis. There are multiple drug classes targeted for tracking, including penicillin, macrolides, and fluoroquinolones.

In California, for 1 in 3 people who receive a penicillin type antibiotic for common bacterial infections, the antibiotic no longer works because the bacteria have become resistant. Because it is the bacteria, and not the person, that becomes resistant to antibiotics, everyone is at risk for getting an untreatable infection.

By tracking trends in resistance, we can all help keep antibiotics working for everyone.

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