Insufficient political awareness and understanding of the risks posed by AMR limits the pressure on, and in, governments to commit to action, especially across human and animal health and the environment. Competing political and economic priorities, turnover of political leaders and few comprehensive economic impact cases at country level make sustained political leadership and awareness of AMR challenging. Multisectoral stakeholder engagement with politicians and policy makers which clearly communicates the risks of inaction and the political commitments needed for implementation are key. Groups who can be mobilised to deliver communications and raise awareness include: funders, public and patient advocates, and frontline workers such as doctors, nurses, vets, hospital workers and cleaners.
Action: Increased engagement with the public and specifically with political leaders, policy makers and financiers is critical to unlock funding for AMR and commit to other policy actions to address AMR. Identifying the entry points (issues of political priority which link to AMR) and people who can elevate AMR action up the political agenda is critical at national and global level. Stakeholders are encouraged to reach out to Dame Sally Davies, UK Special Envoy on Antimicrobial Resistance to support unblocking barriers to action in and across organisations, reaching new stakeholders and enhancing collaboration and information sharing across stakeholders. Delegates agreed to different communications strategies and platforms to increase the visibility of AMR and also to develop specific communications strategies to tackle different calls to action for AMR asks. These include patient specific outreach, a global communications hub to coordinate messaging across countries and regionally focused communications workshops, including workshops focused on animal health.