Enlisting the support of trusted sources to tackle policy problems: The case of antimicrobial resistance

PLoS One. 2019 Mar 21;14(3):e0212993. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0212993. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance represents one of the world's most pressing public health problems. Governments around the world have-and will continue to-develop policy proposals to deal with this problem. However, the capacity of government will be constrained by very low levels of trust in government. This stands in contrast to 'medical scientists' who are highly trusted by the public. This article tests to what extent trusted sources can alter attitudes towards a policy proposal to regulate the use of antibiotics. We find that respondents are much more likely to support a policy put forward by 'medical scientists.' This article provides some initial evidence that medical scientists could be used to gain support for policies to tackle pressing policy challenges such as AMR.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / adverse effects*
  • Antimicrobial Stewardship / legislation & jurisprudence*
  • Australia
  • Biomedical Research
  • Drug Resistance, Bacterial / drug effects*
  • Government
  • Health Policy*
  • Humans
  • Research Personnel
  • Trust*

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents

Grants and funding

This research was supported by grants from the Australian Research Council (Understanding the Causes of Political Trust, DE160100603) (https://www.arc.gov.au/) to AM and the Policy Lab, University of Melbourne. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.