Antimicrobial resistance as a multicultural challenge: a decolonized approach to science communication in the Global South

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), or drug-resistant infection, is a serious threat to global well-being, impacting human, animal and environmental health, and is predicted to cause more deaths than cancer by 2050 (10 million deaths annually). AMR is often termed a super-wicked problem that prevents straightforward solutions due to the systemic, multi-sectoral and multifactorial issues underlying it, posing a dilemma for AMR communication in LMICs. Antimicrobial stewardship, which consists of coordinated efforts to optimize antimicrobial use to reduce AMR, and communication for antimicrobial stewardship behaviours, are hindered by many cultural factors: subjective norms, medical pluralism, hierarchical culture, etc. This Viewpoint suggests ways and examples for how a decolonized approach can support communication around a multicultural issue such as AMR, for understanding drivers and exploring locally relevant solutions. These include recognizing systemic barriers, social norms and collective values, challenging the universalism of Western science to value local knowledge and practices, promoting local ownership of intervention design and knowledge generation, adapting to local structural norms and hierarchies, and being aware of the language problem of AMR. It is imperative that locally contextualized capacity strengthening is available to empower Global South science communication actors (researchers, academics and practitioners).