Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

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

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.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Four solutions for advancing social and behavioural science research on antimicrobial resistance.

References

  1. World Health Organization. Antimicrobial resistance. who.int, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antimicrobial-resistance (2021).

  2. Antimicrobial Resistance Collaborators. Lancet 399, 629–655 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. World Health Organization. The true death toll of COVID-19. Estimating global excess mortality. who.int, https://www.who.int/data/stories/the-true-death-toll-of-covid-19-estimating-global-excess-mortality (2021).

  4. The Review on Antimicrobial Resistance. Tackling Drug-Resistant Infections Globally: Final Report and Recommendations (Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, 2016).

  5. Bavel, J. J. V. et al. Nat. Hum. Behav. 4, 460–471 (2020).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. McNulty, C., Read, B., Quigley, A., Verlander, N. Q. & Lecky, D. M. BMJ Open 12, e055464 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Davies, D. S., Grant, J. & Catchpole, M. The Drugs Don’t Work: A Global Threat (Penguin UK, 2013).

  8. World Health Organization. The TAP Manual: An In-depth Guide for Planning and Implementing Tailoring Antimicrobial Resistance Programmes (WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2022).

  9. World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, United Nations Environment Programme & World Organisation for Animal Health. A One Health Priority Research Agenda for Antimicrobial Resistance (Geneva, 2023).

  10. World Health Organization. Global antimicrobial resistance forum launched to help tackle common threat to planetary health. who.int, https://www.who.int/news-room/articles-detail/global-antimicrobial-resistance-forum-launched-to-help-tackle-common-threat-to-planetary-health (2023).

Download references

Acknowledgements

E.C. is supported by Wellcome Trust Career Development Award 225960/Z/22 and grant 226690/Z/22.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Miroslav Sirota.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Peer review

Peer review information

Nature Human Behaviour thanks the anonymous reviewers for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sirota, M., Habersaat, K.B., Betsch, C. et al. We must harness the power of social and behavioural science against the growing pandemic of antimicrobial resistance. Nat Hum Behav 8, 11–13 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01762-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01762-y

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing