Donation of the European Health Award prize money awarded to ECDC – Invitation to submit proposals for prudent antibiotic use campaigns activities

In September 2016, the European Antibiotic Awareness Day received the European Health Award, a prize awarded each year by the European Health Forum Gastein.

The European Health Award honours initiatives aiming to improve public health or healthcare in Europe. It was established in 2007 to promote cross-border cooperation, multi-country working and the development of sustainable, innovative and transferable initiatives which address current challenges such as disparities in health status, access to services and the provision of treatment within Europe.

European Antibiotic Awareness Day is a health initiative coordinated by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, which aims to provide a platform to support national campaigns on the prudent use of antibiotics. The goal of the European Antibiotic Awareness Day is to provide participating countries with evidence-based tools, as well as technical and political support for their campaigns. In 2016, with the support of WHO/Europe, over 40 European countries organised activities to mark the initiative. Participation has grown steadily since the first European Antibiotic Awareness Day in 2008 in which 32 European countries participated. European Antibiotic Awareness Day partners with the World Antibiotic Awareness Week. 

ECDC decided that the 2016 European Health Award prize money of 10,000.00 EUR should be donated to public health structures in the EU/EEA member states, in particular public health institutes or ministries of health, in order to support prudent antibiotic use campaign activities. The donations will be made from the European Health Forum Gastein to those public health structures in the EU/EEA member states, and in particular public health institutes or ministries of health, willing to implement activities in the field of awareness-raising and education on antibiotic resistance, as well as for local organisations collaborating with national public health authorities that work in the subject field.  Donations will be made on the basis of proposals submitted to ECDC.

Up to a total of three proposals will be chosen as donation recipients: one for 5,000.00 EUR, one for 3,000.00 EUR and one for 2,000.00 EUR. Such donation(s) could also support the development and implementation of pilot campaigns or educational programmes aimed to improve infection prevention and prudent use of antibiotics. Activities and products can entail educational materials, knowledge materials (e.g. promotion materials, EAAD toolkits, campaigns, TV-spots, digital media, etc.) tailored to the specific country needs, as well as activities related to the launch of these products and activities, e.g. during the European Antibiotic Awareness Day in November 2017. If less than three proposals are eligible to receive the donation, or if less than three proposals are considered of sufficient quality to receive the donation, the selected donation recipient(s) will equally share the outstanding amount.  

Proposals will be evaluated by a jury of experts from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the European Commission (DG SANTE), the European Health Forum Gastein and WHO/Europe, according to the selection criteria listed below. 

As a follow up, the donation recipients will be asked to submit a report to ECDC. This report should present the activities and their evaluation at the end of their project. For this reason, submitted proposals must include a monitoring and evaluation component to assess the achievement of objectives in targeted groups. Training of trainers and activities that support the sustainability of the intervention are encouraged. Lastly, we encourage activities that serve as a first step towards sustainable behaviour change in specific target groups. These activities include formative research that identifies target groups (by level of antibiotic use) and segments, and gives input on the prioritisation of such target groups (by analysing beliefs and behaviour on antibiotic use). The donation recipients shall license to ECDC the right to use, for public health awareness purposes, any material included by the donation recipient as part of their proposal.

To submit a proposal, please send the form: Donation of the European Health Award prize money awarded to ECDC filled to EAAD@ecdc.europa.eu (Please note: If you are prompted for a password when opening the form, please click Cancel. The form should open normally after clicking Cancel. If you experience technical difficulties, please email EAAD@ecdc.europa.eu)

Selection criteria

Proposals will be assessed by a jury based on the following criteria:

• The objective of the campaign is set as “SMART”:(Specific - States exactly what will change for whom in concrete terms; Measurable – Indicates the measurability of the campaign results (baseline and indicators); Achievable - Possible to complete in the given time and with given resources; Relevant- States how the campaign will contribute to overall goals in antibiotic consumption and resistance in the country; Time-bound - States a reasonable time frame by when the campaign objective will be accomplished).
• The proposal demonstrates potential to change target group behaviour associated with antibiotic consumption and resistance.
• The proposal fosters intersectoral coordination for antibiotic consumption and antibiotic resistance.
• The proposal includes monitoring and evaluation of changes (in awareness, knowledge and behaviour) in line with the outlined objectives. 
• The proposed activities demonstrate the potential to be sustainable beyond the roll out of the campaign.

Timeline

25 January 2017: ​Deadline to submit proposals​

11 March 2017​: Successful donation recipients will be notified and prize money will be donated from the European Health Forum Gastein.​

January 2018​: Evaluation/status report