Organised jointly with the Directorate-General for Education and INFARMED, I.P., the event took place on 15 March 2023, at INFARMED, I.P.
During the session, the Deputy Director-General of Health, Rui Portugal, said that "proper hand washing and some protective measures can prevent about 30% of the infections we have". Rui Portugal also highlighted that "this project allows us to have languages that are accessible to people of the same ages, in order to adopt behaviours that may be healthier".
At the session, the Director of the Programme for Prevention and Control of Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance of the DGS, José Artur Paiva, underlined that "through the e-Bug Programme we are not only educating for good decisions in the area of antibiotics and longevity, but we are also attracting the younger citizen to this awareness of societal values".
Dulce Pascoalinho, National Coordinator of e-Bug PT, highlighted that with this Educational Programme "we want schools to go out into the community and our students to be the transmitters of the knowledge acquired".
In the scope of good practices in terms of infection prevention and the good use of antibiotics in a school environment, the following Schools and Schools were also awarded in the e-Bug video competition:
- António Rodrigues Sampaio Basic School, in Esposende, with the video "Running for the Antibiotic" (1st place);
- Agrupamento de Escolas Ferreira de Castro, from Oliveira de Azeméis, with the video "Notícias e-bug" (2nd place);
- Marquês de Pombal Elementary School, from Pombal, with the video "Learning with e-Bug is fabulous!" (3rd place).
An initiative funded through EEA Grants Portugal, and led by the DGS in partnership with the Directorate-General for Education, INFARMED, I.P. and The Antibiotic Centre for Primary Care - University of Oslo, Norway, the e-Bug Pedagogical Programme aims to increase health literacy on the themes of infection prevention and proper use of antibiotics in the school community.