Abstract
ObjectiveTo elicit the views of well‐informed community members on the acceptability of proposed policy interventions designed to improve community use of antibiotics in Australia.DesignTwo community juries held in 2016.Setting and participantsWestern Sydney and Dubbo communities in NSW, Australia. Twenty‐nine participants of diverse social and cultural backgrounds, mixed genders and ages recruited via public advertising: one jury was drawn from a large metropolitan setting; the other from a regional/rural setting.Main outcome measureJury verdict and rationale in response to a prioritization task and structured questions.ResultsBoth juries concluded that potential policy interventions to curb antibiotic misuse in the community should be directed towards: (i) ensuring that the public and prescribers were better educated about the dangers of antibiotic resistance; (ii) making community‐based human and animal health‐care practitioners accountable for their prescribing decisions. Patient‐centred approaches such as delayed prescribing were seen as less acceptable than prescriber‐centred approaches; both juries completely rejected any proposal to decrease consumer demand by increasing antibiotic prices.ConclusionThese informed citizens acknowledged the importance of raising public awareness of the risks, impacts and costs of antibiotic resistance and placed a high priority on increasing social and professional accountability through restrictive measures. Their overarching aim was that policy interventions should be directed towards creating collective actions and broad social support for changing antibiotic use through establishing and explaining the need for mechanisms to control and support better prescribing by practitioners, while not transferring the burdens, costs and risks of interventions to consumers.
Highlights
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a significant threat to human health and well-being.[1]
A recent cross-sectional survey of 730 general practitioners (GPs) indicates that Australian practitioners perform well when their knowledge of antibiotic resistance is assessed, but despite this almost 40% of respondents admitted that they prescribe antibiotics to meet patient expectations.[43]
Australia was an early leader in using regulatory measures to restrict the use of antibiotics of critical importance to human health,[8] but there has been a reluctance among policymakers to place further restrictions on clinicians and health-care providers
Summary
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a significant threat to human health and well-being.[1] AMR affects the lives and livelihoods of millions globally by disrupting health, agricultural and ecological systems.[2] Antibiotic use is a key driver of AMR—the more antibiotics we use, the more likely it is that resistance will develop, be amplified and spread.[3] Following publication of the O’Neill Report, the costs of failing to address the challenges of AMR are becoming clearer and strategies to address AMR have been elevated on national and global political agendas—including developing a global action plan.[4] As their effectiveness declines and antibiotics become a limited resource, it is increasingly clear that further escalations in the level of AMR will lead to broad, sustained and adverse impacts on the health and well-being of individuals and their communities
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