We must harness the power of social and behavioural science against the growing pandemic of antimicrobial resistance

Miroslav Sirota; Katrine bach Habersaat; Cornelia Betsch; Daniela lejla Bonga; Aleksandra Borek; Anica Buckel; Robb Butler; Lucie Byrne-Davis; Mark Caudell; Esmita Charani; Mattis Geiger; Marina Gross; Jo Hart; Olga Kostopoulou; Eva m. Krockow; Tiina Likki; Danilo Lo fo wong; Ana p. Santana; Elisabeth d. c. Sievert; Andriana Theodoropoulou; Alistair Thorpe; Marta Wanat; Robert Böhm

doi:10.1038/s41562-023-01762-y

We must harness the power of social and behavioural science against the growing pandemic of antimicrobial resistance

Miroslav Sirota, Katrine bach Habersaat, Cornelia Betsch, Daniela lejla Bonga, Aleksandra Borek, Anica Buckel, Robb Butler, Lucie Byrne-Davis, Mark Caudell, Esmita Charani, Mattis Geiger, Marina Gross, Jo Hart, Olga Kostopoulou, Eva m. Krockow, Tiina Likki, Danilo Lo fo wong, Ana p. Santana, Elisabeth d. c. Sievert, Andriana TheodoropoulouAlistair Thorpe, Marta Wanat, Robert Böhm

Medical Education (L5)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Commentary/debate › peer-review

Abstract

Social and behavioural science offers a valuable toolkit for combating pandemics, but has not been broadly applied to tackle the rising pandemic of antimicrobial resistance.

Antimicrobial resistance occurs when microorganisms (such as bacteria, fungi and viruses) adapt to survive exposure to medicines that normally kill them or inhibit their growth, which in turn makes these medicines less effective over time. Left unmitigated, antimicrobial resistance will reverse previous gains in modern medicine and increase global mortality from currently treatable diseases. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), antimicrobial resistance is one of the most important threats to global health, food security and development today1. In 2019, antimicrobial resistance is estimated to have contributed to the deaths of approximately 4.95 million people: 1.27 million deaths were directly attributed to it2. By comparison, the WHO estimated that — on the basis of excess deaths statistics — COVID-19 was associated with 3 million deaths in 2020 (ref. 3). If no immediate measures are taken to reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistance, by 2050 it could contribute to up to 10 million deaths annually4. The burden is not distributed equally, as it disproportionally affects people from low- and middle-income countries2.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	11-13
Number of pages	3
Journal	Nature Human Behaviour
Volume	8
Issue number	1
Early online date	20 Nov 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01762-y
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2024

Access to Document

10.1038/s41562-023-01762-y

Cite this

Sirota, M., Habersaat, K. B., Betsch, C., Bonga, D. L., Borek, A., Buckel, A., Butler, R., Byrne-Davis, L., Caudell, M., Charani, E., Geiger, M., Gross, M., Hart, J., Kostopoulou, O., Krockow, E. M., Likki, T., Lo fo wong, D., Santana, A. P., Sievert, E. D. C., ... Böhm, R. (2024). We must harness the power of social and behavioural science against the growing pandemic of antimicrobial resistance. Nature Human Behaviour, 8(1), 11-13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01762-y

@article{498530633d3c4e97ad9d0c708396b69f,

title = "We must harness the power of social and behavioural science against the growing pandemic of antimicrobial resistance",

abstract = "Social and behavioural science offers a valuable toolkit for combating pandemics, but has not been broadly applied to tackle the rising pandemic of antimicrobial resistance.Antimicrobial resistance occurs when microorganisms (such as bacteria, fungi and viruses) adapt to survive exposure to medicines that normally kill them or inhibit their growth, which in turn makes these medicines less effective over time. Left unmitigated, antimicrobial resistance will reverse previous gains in modern medicine and increase global mortality from currently treatable diseases. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), antimicrobial resistance is one of the most important threats to global health, food security and development today1. In 2019, antimicrobial resistance is estimated to have contributed to the deaths of approximately 4.95 million people: 1.27 million deaths were directly attributed to it2. By comparison, the WHO estimated that — on the basis of excess deaths statistics — COVID-19 was associated with 3 million deaths in 2020 (ref. 3). If no immediate measures are taken to reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistance, by 2050 it could contribute to up to 10 million deaths annually4. The burden is not distributed equally, as it disproportionally affects people from low- and middle-income countries2.",

author = "Miroslav Sirota and Habersaat, {Katrine bach} and Cornelia Betsch and Bonga, {Daniela lejla} and Aleksandra Borek and Anica Buckel and Robb Butler and Lucie Byrne-Davis and Mark Caudell and Esmita Charani and Mattis Geiger and Marina Gross and Jo Hart and Olga Kostopoulou and Krockow, {Eva m.} and Tiina Likki and {Lo fo wong}, Danilo and Santana, {Ana p.} and Sievert, {Elisabeth d. c.} and Andriana Theodoropoulou and Alistair Thorpe and Marta Wanat and Robert B{\"o}hm",

year = "2024",

month = jan,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1038/s41562-023-01762-y",

language = "English",

volume = "8",

pages = "11--13",

journal = "Nature Human Behaviour",

issn = "2397-3374",

publisher = "Springer Nature",

number = "1",

}

Sirota, M, Habersaat, KB, Betsch, C, Bonga, DL, Borek, A, Buckel, A, Butler, R, Byrne-Davis, L, Caudell, M, Charani, E, Geiger, M, Gross, M, Hart, J, Kostopoulou, O, Krockow, EM, Likki, T, Lo fo wong, D, Santana, AP, Sievert, EDC, Theodoropoulou, A, Thorpe, A, Wanat, M & Böhm, R 2024, 'We must harness the power of social and behavioural science against the growing pandemic of antimicrobial resistance', Nature Human Behaviour, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 11-13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01762-y

TY - JOUR

T1 - We must harness the power of social and behavioural science against the growing pandemic of antimicrobial resistance

AU - Sirota, Miroslav

AU - Habersaat, Katrine bach

AU - Betsch, Cornelia

AU - Bonga, Daniela lejla

AU - Borek, Aleksandra

AU - Buckel, Anica

AU - Butler, Robb

AU - Byrne-Davis, Lucie

AU - Caudell, Mark

AU - Charani, Esmita

AU - Geiger, Mattis

AU - Gross, Marina

AU - Hart, Jo

AU - Kostopoulou, Olga

AU - Krockow, Eva m.

AU - Likki, Tiina

AU - Lo fo wong, Danilo

AU - Santana, Ana p.

AU - Sievert, Elisabeth d. c.

AU - Theodoropoulou, Andriana

AU - Thorpe, Alistair

AU - Wanat, Marta

AU - Böhm, Robert

PY - 2024/1/1

Y1 - 2024/1/1

N2 - Social and behavioural science offers a valuable toolkit for combating pandemics, but has not been broadly applied to tackle the rising pandemic of antimicrobial resistance.Antimicrobial resistance occurs when microorganisms (such as bacteria, fungi and viruses) adapt to survive exposure to medicines that normally kill them or inhibit their growth, which in turn makes these medicines less effective over time. Left unmitigated, antimicrobial resistance will reverse previous gains in modern medicine and increase global mortality from currently treatable diseases. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), antimicrobial resistance is one of the most important threats to global health, food security and development today1. In 2019, antimicrobial resistance is estimated to have contributed to the deaths of approximately 4.95 million people: 1.27 million deaths were directly attributed to it2. By comparison, the WHO estimated that — on the basis of excess deaths statistics — COVID-19 was associated with 3 million deaths in 2020 (ref. 3). If no immediate measures are taken to reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistance, by 2050 it could contribute to up to 10 million deaths annually4. The burden is not distributed equally, as it disproportionally affects people from low- and middle-income countries2.

AB - Social and behavioural science offers a valuable toolkit for combating pandemics, but has not been broadly applied to tackle the rising pandemic of antimicrobial resistance.Antimicrobial resistance occurs when microorganisms (such as bacteria, fungi and viruses) adapt to survive exposure to medicines that normally kill them or inhibit their growth, which in turn makes these medicines less effective over time. Left unmitigated, antimicrobial resistance will reverse previous gains in modern medicine and increase global mortality from currently treatable diseases. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), antimicrobial resistance is one of the most important threats to global health, food security and development today1. In 2019, antimicrobial resistance is estimated to have contributed to the deaths of approximately 4.95 million people: 1.27 million deaths were directly attributed to it2. By comparison, the WHO estimated that — on the basis of excess deaths statistics — COVID-19 was associated with 3 million deaths in 2020 (ref. 3). If no immediate measures are taken to reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistance, by 2050 it could contribute to up to 10 million deaths annually4. The burden is not distributed equally, as it disproportionally affects people from low- and middle-income countries2.

U2 - 10.1038/s41562-023-01762-y

DO - 10.1038/s41562-023-01762-y

M3 - Commentary/debate

SN - 2397-3374

VL - 8

SP - 11

EP - 13

JO - Nature Human Behaviour

JF - Nature Human Behaviour

IS - 1

ER -

We must harness the power of social and behavioural science against the growing pandemic of antimicrobial resistance

Abstract

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this