Issue 31:12, 2024 of JEPP features a Special Issue guest edited by Erik Baekkeskov and Jon Pierre which is devoted to the growing public health hazard of antimicrobial (or antibiotic) resistance (AMR). JEPP has recently published special issues on Europe’s response to key global public policy problems such as climate change and COVID. The AMR global threat traverses the border between the social sciences and medical science. Therefore, we need research both on the medical and societal aspects of the AMR problem.
The single most important driver of AMR is consumption of antibiotics by humans or livestock. The administration, prescription, and consumption of antibiotics is guided by professional and social norms and practices. In order to change how medical and veterinary professionals and patients perceive the use of antibiotics, research on the norms that guide such behavior and how they can be altered is pivotal.
More broadly, the research field where public health and social science align will grow in significance and attention, given the increasing life expectancy in many countries. As a result, public spending on public health sector is likely to increase. An important aspect of public health work is promoting a healthy lifestyle among the senior population in terms of a healthy diet, exercise and moderate consumption of alcohol and tobacco. This is where social science has a contribution to make as it studies how social norms shape individual behavior. Reducing the consumption of antibiotics is but one example of where public health and social science can in inform and support research and applied studies.
The SI covers the most important areas where social science can contribute to reduce AMR:
- the role of public health experts in shaping national strategies to reduce AMR;
- citizens’ perceptions of the AMR threat to themselves and to society as a whole;
- the decreasing interest in many countries to implement or update National Action Plans;
- whether public or private healthcare systems are better geared to reduce AMR;
- how differences in administrative organizations explain differences in consumption of antibiotics and AMR prevalence;
- how European AMR experts view which countries are at the forefront of European AMR work;
- the problem of coordinating the work to reduce AMR nationally and internationally.
The special issue includes the following articles
- Baekkeskov, E., & Pierre, J. (2024). More than medicine: antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as a social and political challenge that can be overcome. Journal of European Public Policy, 31(12), 3941–3956. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2024.2410919
- Baekkeskov, E., & Rubin, O. (2024). Policy termination made easy? The emerging trend towards sunsetting antimicrobial resistance national action plans. Journal of European Public Policy, 31(12), 3957–3980. a
- Heinzel, M., & Koenig-Archibugi, M. (2024). National action on antimicrobial resistance and the political economy of health care. Journal of European Public Policy, 31(12), 3981–4007. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2024.2326656
- Lampi, E., & Rönnerstrand, B. (2024). What makes a leader? Antimicrobial resistance leadership among 29 European countries. Journal of European Public Policy, 31(12), 4008–4034. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2024.2390189
- Pierre, J., Carelli, D., & Rönnerstrand, B. (2024). Free riding is not the problem: how agency, heterogeneity and authority challenge collective action against antimicrobial resistance in the European Union. Journal of European Public Policy, 31(12), 4035–4062. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2024.2346607
- Time, M. S., & Veggeland, F. (2024). From ideal to reality: governance of AMR in a multi-level setting. Journal of European Public Policy, 31(12), 4063–4087. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2024.2400271
- Pierre, J., Carelli, D., & Peters, B. G. (2023). The four worlds of politics and administration in the EU: how institutional arrangements shape the struggle against antimicrobial resistance. Journal of European Public Policy, 31(12), 4088–4115. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2023.2255223
- Fimreite, A. L., Løvseth, E. K., Lægreid, P., & Rykkja, L. H. (2024). Fear, trust, and knowledge – understanding Norwegian citizens’ perceptions of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Journal of European Public Policy, 31(12), 4116–4138. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2024.2360585