The British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) received a highly commended award at the Antibiotic Guardian Awards for their contribution to antibiotic stewardship. The association was the only organization from the veterinary profession to be shortlisted.

The Antibiotic Guardian Awards were introduced this year by Public Health England (PHE) and aim to champion U.K. organizations and individuals who have demonstrated achievement in tackling antimicrobial resistance at a local, regional or national level. They were held at Birmingham Town Hall on May 12

In 2012 BEVA first launched its PROTECT ME antimicrobial campaign to coincide with European Antimicrobial Awareness day. The association has launched additional resources each year to facilitate compliance and educate the public about the importance of antimicrobial awareness.

“It is a great achievement for a veterinary organization to be recognized alongside the human health sector which invariably has significantly more resources to support antimicrobial stewardship,” said Mark Bowen, BVetMed, PhD, CertEM (IntMed), MRCVS, president of BEVA and co-author of the PROTECT ME toolkit. “PROTECT ME has had a fantastic uptake from the equine profession and are proud of the impact that it is having. BEVA is grateful to all who have contributed to its success, especially Wendy Furness (MA, VetMB, CertEP, MRCVS) and Jacqui Paton (BVSc, CertEP, MRCVS) of the Scarsdale veterinary group, in Derby, who trialed it prior to launch and adopted it fully within the practice