Key recommendations

"The report outlines five evidence-based principles for communicators to keep in mind when talking to the public about drug-resistant infections. When used together, they are more likely to create communication that informs, motivates and persuades.

1. Frame drug-resistant infections as undermining modern medicine

• Demonstrate how drug-resistant infections are a cross-cutting threat across all of medicine, which set back and undermine treatments that we have come to rely on.
• Illustrate using multiple examples that are relevant to the audience.

2. Explain the fundamentals succinctly

• Help the public understand resistance (particularly that bacteria develop resistance, not humans).
• Include explanation of the part that human activity is playing in accelerating the issue.

3. Emphasise that this is a universal issue; it affects everyone, including you

• Show that anyone could be affected, not only the most vulnerable groups. 
• Tell human stories; numbers and statistics generally resonate less strongly with the public.

4. Focus on the here and now

• Show the current impact of drug-resistant infections, rather than projections or apocalyptic frames.

5. Encourage immediate action

• Frame the issue as solvable – people want to know what can be done about the problem.

What’s inside

• Findings based on extensive research (in-depth interviews with experts; quantitative and qualitative message testing with 12,000 people in Germany, India, Japan, Kenya, the UK, the USA and Thailand; media and social media analysis)
• Recommendations on effective framing and language
• Practical toolkit to help apply the recommendations"