Re: Antimicrobial resistance: action must shift towards prevention
Dear Editor
We respond with keen interest to the editorial by Glover et al.
Infection prevention through water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) initiatives, improving access to healthcare, notably in LMICs require strong political will and ample resources (1). Alongside infrastructural changes, behavioural interventions through a social science approach empowers individuals to ensure the sustainability of current interventions. The recent COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of a multi-faceted approach to AMR. How can any individual make a difference in their daily lives, when faced with such surmounting, often-framed as apocalyptic threat?
The World Health Organization (WHO) had published the report “People-centred approach to addressing antimicrobial resistance in human health: WHO core package of interventions to support national action plans" (2). AMR is a natural evolutionary phenomenon that is exacerbated by the overuse and misuse of antimicrobial agents. Using people-centred behavioural change interventions, innovations to change AMR-related human behaviours on an individual level can collectively impact the current trajectory of AMR.
We must bring the public along in tackling the global threat of AMR.
Rapid Response:
Re: Antimicrobial resistance: action must shift towards prevention
Dear Editor
We respond with keen interest to the editorial by Glover et al.
Infection prevention through water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) initiatives, improving access to healthcare, notably in LMICs require strong political will and ample resources (1). Alongside infrastructural changes, behavioural interventions through a social science approach empowers individuals to ensure the sustainability of current interventions. The recent COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of a multi-faceted approach to AMR. How can any individual make a difference in their daily lives, when faced with such surmounting, often-framed as apocalyptic threat?
The World Health Organization (WHO) had published the report “People-centred approach to addressing antimicrobial resistance in human health: WHO core package of interventions to support national action plans" (2). AMR is a natural evolutionary phenomenon that is exacerbated by the overuse and misuse of antimicrobial agents. Using people-centred behavioural change interventions, innovations to change AMR-related human behaviours on an individual level can collectively impact the current trajectory of AMR.
We must bring the public along in tackling the global threat of AMR.
Reference
1. World Health Organisation. WASH and antimicrobial resistance, https://www.who.int/teams/environment-climate-change-and-health/water-sa... (2024, accessed 4 September 2024).
2. World Health Organisation. People-centred approach to addressing antimicrobial resistance in human health: WHO core package of interventions to support national action plans, https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240082496 (2023, accessed 4 September 2024).
Competing interests: No competing interests