We used to give our antibiotics to our chickens when they got sick

Rhoda’s Story

15 year-old Rhoda lives in the Dodoma Region of Tanzania. She attends one of RBA Initiative’s AMR Clubs, a project supported by Stop Superbugs.

Before attending AMR Club, I’d never heard of antimicrobial resistance. In my community, many people have a tendency to share medicine – even with our animals. For example, my family rear chickens at home, and whenever the animals got sick, we used to buy antibiotics that were meant for humans and feed them to the chickens.

Attending an AMR club has made a huge difference to my life. I have learnt about so many things, like the importance of hand-washing and hygiene, how to identify fake medicine, and the importance of always completing the full course of antibiotics (even after feeling well). I’ve also learnt that we should never share our medicine with anyone.

Now that I have this knowledge, I have educated my family about the threat of antimicrobial resistance, who in turn have passed on the message to their friends. We don’t share our medicine with the chickens anymore!

Antibiotics and farming

  • Scientific evidence shows that overuse of antibiotics in animals contributes to the emergence of antibiotic resistance
  • In some countries, approximately 80% of total consumption of medically important antibiotics is in the animal sector
  • WHO strongly recommends an overall reduction in the use of all classes of medically important antibiotics in food-producing animals

Source: WHO

What is Stop Superbugs doing to help?

RBA Initiative already run three hugely successful AMR Clubs, like the one Rhoda attends. Now they want to open more, to reach more children over a wider area.

To do this, though, they need more resources.

School-in-a-box

Stop Superbugs is raising money to buy 6 ‘Schools-in-a-box’: A cardboard box that contains simple kit many of us take for granted: a laptop, projector, printer, and stationery. Basic, but transformative tools that’ll make a huge difference in Tanzania.

Superbugs are a huge problem in Tanzania, a country where half the population continues to live below the international poverty line of $1.90 per person per day.

Can you help children like Rhoda?

Superbugs are a serious problem. Every year, they kill at least 700,000 people around the world. That’s about one person every 45 seconds.

Stop Superbugs is dedicated to supporting projects working in some of the worst-affected parts of the world, educating children and young people about superbugs and empowering them to keep themselves and their communities safe.

You can help to keep children like Rhoda safe by donating here – the more we raise, the more people we can help!

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