In 2024, increasing resistance of bacteria to antibiotics, which impacts on our health, food, and socioeconomic security was debated at the United Nations General Assembly. This led to a political declaration, which included commitments for action that require public adoption to be implemented successfully.

In this study, researchers examined the level of support and opposition for relevant policies from 2419 citizens of 6 middle-income countries: Brazil and Colombia; Nigeria and Tanzania; and India and Indonesia. They used Deliberative Polling®, a method that allows participants to deliberate trade-off questions through background material, small peer-group discussions, and question and answer sessions with experts over 2 days.

Participants considered trade-offs such as prioritising the use of antibiotics in food production systems versus a higher price for antibiotic-free meat, how antibiotics should be accessed by humans in farming/agriculture, and which policy interventions should be prioritised for the greatest public benefit.