Two of the world's premiere organizations whose missions are to protect human health focus on educating health workers, the agricultural sector, policymakers and everyday citizens on the dangers of antibiotic resistance. The World Health Organization is championing World Antibiotics Awareness Week and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is hosting its annual Get Smart About Antibiotics campaign. Both awareness efforts are greatly needed because antibiotics are losing their effectiveness due to excessive overuse by doctors, patients and industrial farming operations. This means these miracle drugs are on the brink of becoming an obsolete tool in protecting human and animal health.

Losing antibiotics to fight bacterial infections is nearly inconceivable. Gone would be the days of organ transplants and joint replacements, routine surgeries could become life threatening and a simple cut on the knee could kill. That's a dire prediction of the future of medicine, but it need not come true. If we rein in overuse in all sectors we can turn the tide of this looming public health crisis. Antibiotic resistance is everyone's problem so we all need to work on turning this issue around.

That's where you come in: Do your part. Start by visiting the websites of these two organizations. Test your knowledge by taking the quizzes they have created, print the infographics and hang them in your lunchroom or on your company bulletin boards, watch the new videos they have created and distribute their fact sheets to friends and colleagues. And join the conversation: follow the campaigns on Facebook (CDC and WHO) and Twitter (@CDCgov and @WHO) and tweet and post often. Use the hashtags #GetSmart, #AntibioticResistance and #antibiotics. Help spread the word because the clock ticks on life-saving antibiotics.

Then make it your mission to put into practice what you've learned. Cold and flu season is upon us and antibiotics won't help you one bit if you contract either. Get your flu shot. Don't demand an antibiotic unless you are absolutely sure you have a bacterial infection. If your doctor gives you an antibiotic prescription, ask if you really need it. We all have a job to do in stopping antibiotic overuse and misuse.

Antibiotic resistance is a serious, global threat to modern day medicine. Medical leaders warned us for decades that if we didn't stop our serious love affair with antibiotics that we would love these miracle drugs to their death. We're almost there, but it's not too late. We all need to move this issue to the top of our agendas, advocate for change and emulate the change we seek.