Soft governance against superbugs: how effective is the international regime on antimicrobial resistance?

Heinzel, Mirko ORCID: 0000-0001-8801-8237 and Koenig-Archibugi, Mathias ORCID: 0000-0003-4637-9477 (2023) Soft governance against superbugs: how effective is the international regime on antimicrobial resistance? Review of International Organizations. ISSN 1559-7431

Text (Soft governance against superbugs: How effective is the international regime on antimicrobial resistance?) - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (936kB)

• Author
• Author
• Scopus publication

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the declining effectiveness of antibiotic medicines due to misuse are among the biggest threats to global health and a major challenge for global governance in this century. Since drug-resistant bacteria spread easily across borders, government policies that exacerbate or mitigate AMR affect other countries. International organizations and governments addressed the global public good of maintaining antimicrobial protection by creating a soft governance regime largely devoid of legally binding rules and enforcement mechanisms. This article presents a cross-national empirical assessment of the effectiveness of the international AMR regime combining novel data on national action plans and data on antibiotic consumption in 191 countries between 2000 and 2018. We find that the regime sets ambitious goals and achieves broad participation, substantial implementation, and meaningful change in the use of antibiotics. The involvement of the largest consumers of antibiotics has been crucial for both effectiveness and equity.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.springer.com/journal/11558
Additional Information:	© 2023 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Government International Relations
Subjects:	J Political Science > JF Political institutions (General) R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine
Date Deposited:	18 Sep 2023 14:33
Last Modified:	15 Apr 2024 18:15
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/120227

Actions (login required)

View Item