Poverty and drug resistance: the context needs to change, not the understanding of patients

“Despite the fact that behavioural sciences routinely argue that as little as 20% of our decisions are driven by the reflective evaluation of factual information, the global response to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) still emphasises individual responsibility and knowledge. The UK Review on Antimicrobial Resistance names as first global intervention to reduce antibiotic demand “a massive global public awareness campaign,” the World Health Organization’s Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance states its first objective to be “improve awareness and understanding” of AMR, and a wide range of global and national surveys are aimed at populations’ antibiotic knowledge and attitudes.