Connect with us

Health

“People’s Behavior Toward Antibiotics Misuse, can be Influenced with Right Information” Groups Say

Published

on

Youths Against Antimicrobial Misuse Initiative is an initiative by Alliance Against Antimicrobial Resistance in collaboration with Ducit Blue Foundation and supported by South Centre which seeks to create behavioural change communication on spreading the awareness of antimicrobial resistance in form of infographics in over 50 local languages.

In this exclusive interview with the team lead, Yusuf Babatunde by Tracknews correspondent, Ibraheem Olasunkanmi Qoseem, he discusses about the inspiration, successes and other back stories of the initiative.

In the past few days, social media went agog with your initiative: “Youths Against Antimicrobial Misuse”, can you tell us more about it?

Advertisement

Our team at Alliance Against Antimicrobial resistance (Triple A) led by founders Yusuf Babatunde and Naomi Chikezie collaborated with Ducit blue foundation led by Pharmacist Estelle Onyi Mbadiwe to develop evidence-based AMR messages but in just a one-page infographic. The one-pager gave a short and simple description on AMR, what individuals reading the content should do in their respective homes and communities to prevent infection spread and to also improve antimicrobial use.

W

e then crowdsourced ideas from young people all over Africa to translate the one-page infographic into over 50 local languages. By providing simple, clear, evidence-based, translated and unambiguous AMR messages, we want to ensure that the global effort against antimicrobial resistance is tailored to various African communities so the right action can be taken. We believe people can only take action when they have the right information. This project was supported by South Centre.

Advertisement

Looking at how massive your campaign was in the media spaces and considering the fact that people in the grassroots have no access to internet, how were you able to reach them?

After the campaigns were conducted online using social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin and WhatsApp, we also conducted AMR awareness walks onsite across 3 states in Nigeria (Kwara, Oyo, and Borno State) visiting various target locations like local markets, schools, bus stations, car parks. Youth volunteers in Senegal, Kenya and Uganda also conducted the AMR awareness walks.

Although Antimicrobial Awareness Week isn’t entirely new, what can you say is the inspiration behind your creative approach?

Advertisement

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is resistance of a microorganism; bacteria, fungi, viruses and some parasites to an antimicrobial medicine to which it was originally sensitive. As a result, antimicrobials (antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals) become ineffective and infections become difficult to treat. AMR is primarily driven by misuse of these medicines and has the potential to cause not only 300 million deaths in 2050 but also push 28.3 million people to poverty. We discovered that most people don’t know what a threat AMR is or why we need to use our medicines more judiciously. AMR terminology is often quite complex and has geographic, disciplinary and societal variations that affect understanding and interpretation. Thus, without simple, clear and translated AMR messages, populations are misinformed, left with popular myths and belief systems towards use of antibiotics.
We decided to fill this huge gap by making AMR messages simple, clear and unambiguous for anyone that comes across it. We also believe on the power young people have in making impacts in their communities and in this case, AMR.

Looking at the acceptability of your campaign by scores of people, obviously, people did connect well with your initiative, how did you do it?

Our team at Alliance Against Antimicrobial resistance (Triple A) led by founders Yusuf Babatunde and Naomi Chikezie collaborated with Ducit blue foundation led by Pharmacist Estelle Onyi Mbadiwe to develop evidence-based AMR messages but in just a one-page infographic. The one-pager gave a short and simple description on AMR, what individuals reading the content should do in their respective homes and communities to prevent infection spread and to also improve antimicrobial use. We then crowdsourced ideas from young people all over Africa to translate the one-page infographic into over 50 local languages. This was disseminated online through a massive social media campaign on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and WhatsApp. We also printed out these infographics in many languages and conducted awareness walks to hard-to-reach populations in local markets, schools, bus stations, and car parks across 3 states in Nigeria (Kwara, Oyo, and Borno State). Young people visited these locations and made efforts to communicate heart of the messages clearly.

Advertisement

What do you intend to achieve doing this?

The first objective of the global action plan on AMR aims to improve the awareness and understanding antimicrobial resistance. We intend to contribute to these global efforts by ensuring people have the right information on AMR. Besides, people can only take the right action when they have the right information. By making AMR messages as clear and unambiguous as possible, people would understand the need to use antibiotics the right way and they would also know why we all need to do our parts in combatting the menace that is antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Do you think the impact will be largely felt with the way you did it?

Advertisement

Community engagement can promote antimicrobial resistance (AMR) behavior change as it has the potential to engage communities to create locally relevant solutions, particularly in LMICs. However, in order to change behaviors, engagement with people through AMR education and awareness is necessary to fully understand the subject. We strongly believe our project is a huge step in sparking responsive dialogue in the community on AMR.

Is there anything I need to know about the campaign?

So far, over 700 people across 38 countries have viewed our translated infographics. 154 people have downloaded the infographics for their own individual campaigns in their respective countries. Also, we have over 30,000 engagements across our social media pages on Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, and WhatsApp. During the awareness walk, we were able to reach more than 2,000 people across the various locations.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Comments
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement Web Hosting in Nigeria
Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending