Characteristics of a Nationwide Voluntary Antibiotic Resistance Awareness Campaign in India; Future Paths and Pointers for Resource Limited Settings/Low and Middle Income Countries

Ashok J. Tamhankar, Ramesh Nachimuthu, Ravikant Singh, Jyoti Harindran, Gautam Kumar Meghwanshi, Rajesh Kannan, Nachimuthu Senthil Kumar, Vikrant Negi, Lijy Jacob, Sayan Bhattacharyya, Krushna Chandra Sahoo, Vijay Kumar Mahadik, Vishal Diwan, Megha Sharma, Ashish Pathak, Smita U. Khedkar, Dnyaneshwar Avhad, Sonal Saxena, Sandeep Nerkar, Vaishali Venu, Sandeep Kumar, G. Shandeepan, Khundrakpam Ranjit Singh, Ridiamma Gashnga and Arvind Kumar
Additional contact information
Ashok J. Tamhankar: Indian Initiative for Management of Antibiotic Resistance, 302, Aryans, Deonar, Mumbai 400088, India
Ramesh Nachimuthu: Indian Initiative for Management of Antibiotic Resistance, Antibiotic Resistance and Phage Laboratory, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore 632014, India
Ravikant Singh: Chief Functionary’s Office, Doctors For You, Lallubhai Compound, Mankhurd, Mumbai 400 043, India
Jyoti Harindran: Departmentof Pharmaceutical Sciences, Centre for Professional and Advanced Studies, Cheruvandoor Campus, Ettumanoor, Kottayam, Kerala 686631, India
Gautam Kumar Meghwanshi: Department of Microbiology, Maharaja Ganga Singh University, NH-15, Jaisalmer Road, Bikaner, Rajasthan 334 001, India
Rajesh Kannan: Department of Microbiology, Bharathidhasan University, Thiruchirapalli, Tamilnadu 620024, India
Nachimuthu Senthil Kumar: Department of Biotechnology, Mizoram University, Aizwal, Mizoram 796004, India
Vikrant Negi: Department of Microbiology, Dr. S.N. Medical College, Jodhpur, Rajasthan 342 001, India
Lijy Jacob: Department of Biotechnology, St. Berchmans College, Changanassery, Kerala 686101, India
Sayan Bhattacharyya: Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, Bihar 801507, India
Krushna Chandra Sahoo: Department of Health Research, ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, Bhubaneswar, Odisha 751023, India
Vijay Kumar Mahadik: Department of Public Health and Environment, R.D Gardi Medical College, Ujjain, Madhya Preadesh 456006, India
Vishal Diwan: Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
Megha Sharma: Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
Ashish Pathak: Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
Smita U. Khedkar: Bactest Laboratory and Dental College, Nashik, Maharashtra 422 005, India
Dnyaneshwar Avhad: School of Health Systems Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai 400088, India
Sonal Saxena: Department of Microbiology, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Delhi 110 001, India
Sandeep Nerkar: Chetana Laboratories, Nashik, Maharashtra 422009, India
Vaishali Venu: Director-Health services’ offce, Doctors For You, Lallubhai Compound, Mankhurd, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400043, India
Sandeep Kumar: Doctors For You, Patna, Bihar 803 201, India
G. Shandeepan: Doctors For You, Bandipore, Jammu and Kashmir 193502, India
Khundrakpam Ranjit Singh: Doctors For You, Ningthoukhong Ward No.3, Bishnupur District, Manipur 795126, India
Ridiamma Gashnga: Doctors For You, Laitumkhrah Nongrim Road, Shillong, Meghalaya 793003, India
Arvind Kumar: Doctors For You, A-58, Plot no. 7, Block A extension, Budh Vihar, Delhi, Budh Vihar, Delhi 110086, India

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 24, 1-17

Abstract: Antibiotic resistance has reached alarming proportions globally, prompting the World Health Organization to advise nations to take up antibiotic awareness campaigns. Several campaigns have been taken up worldwide, mostly by governments. The government of India asked manufacturers to append a ‘redline’ to packages of antibiotics as identification marks and conducted a campaign to inform the general public about it and appropriate antibiotic use. We investigated whether an antibiotic resistance awareness campaign could be organized voluntarily in India and determined the characteristics of the voluntarily organized campaign by administering a questionnaire to the coordinators, who participated in organizing the voluntary campaign India. The campaign characteristics were: multiple electro–physical pedagogical and participatory techniques were used, 49 physical events were organized in various parts of India that included lectures, posters, booklet/pamphlet distribution, audio and video messages, competitions, and mass contact rallies along with broadcast of messages in 11 local languages using community radio stations (CRS) spread all over India. The median values for campaign events were: expenditure—3000 Indian Rupees/day (US$~47), time for planning—1 day, program spread—4 days, program time—4 h, direct and indirect reach of the message—respectively 250 and 500 persons/event. A 2 min play entitled ‘Take antibiotics as prescribed by the doctor’ was broadcast 10 times/day for 5 days on CRS with listener reach of ~5 million persons. More than 85%ofcoordinators thought that the campaign created adequate awareness about appropriate antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance. The voluntary campaign has implications for resource limited settings/low and middle income countries.

Keywords: antibiotic resistance; electro–physical awareness campaign; pedagogical and participatory techniques; India; community radio stations; campaign characteristics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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