Spreading Awareness, Not Resistance
CPA joins with All Things AMR and the Wolfson College, Cambridge for a special event
by Edwin Panford Quainoo, Senior Antimicrobial Resistance Technical Advisor, CwPAMS
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the greatest global health challenges of our time, yet it remains an issue that often hides in plain sight. Most people only encounter the term when it is too late, when an infection does not respond to treatment or when headlines warn of a superbug crisis. Behind those headlines are everyday decisions, conversations, and assumptions that quietly shape the future of antibiotics.
This year, to mark World AMR Awareness Week, the Wolfson College Global Research Hub at the University of Cambridge, in collaboration with All Things AMR and CPA, will host an evening that looks at AMR through a different lens. Rather than asking what resistance is, we will ask how we talk about it and why that matters.
The event, titled “Spreading Awareness, Not Resistance: Making AMR Go Viral“, will take place in a relaxed sofa-style format. I will be joined by Victoria Rutter, CPA CEO, for a conversation about how AMR messaging can inspire, confuse or even unintentionally alienate the very people it aims to reach.
Beyond the science
We will explore what happens when awareness spreads faster than solutions and how we can make our messages more human, inclusive and effective. From policy campaigns to pharmacy counters, and from social media to everyday talk, we will unpack how stories, symbols, and metaphors shape the global response to AMR. It is not about blame or buzzwords. It is about asking how communication can become part of the cure rather than part of the problem.
AMR is often framed as a scientific or medical issue that belongs in laboratories and hospitals. Yet, as my own research in Ghana and the United Kingdom has shown, it is also deeply social. It is about how people make sense of illness, negotiate access to medicines, and trust or distrust those who provide them.
From pharmacists and over-the-counter sellers to parents and patients, everyone plays a role in the antibiotic story. If we want stewardship to work, it must start with understanding how people actually talk about medicines in homes, in communities, and in everyday life.
That is what this event is about. Connecting the science to the stories.
The All Things AMR documentary
The evening will also feature the premiere of the trailer for my upcoming documentary, which explores AMR through lived experiences, from Accra’s busy streets to pharmacy counters and community spaces where care, commerce, and responsibility meet.
The documentary aims to raise awareness but also to rehumanise the issue. It reminds us that behind every antibiotic decision is a person navigating uncertainty, scarcity, or hope.
We are currently raising funds to complete the project, and this event will be part of that journey. Guests will have a chance to see early footage, hear about the making of the film, and find out how to support its completion.
AMR is not only a problem for scientists to solve. It is a story we all share responsibility for telling. If we choose to tell it well, we can change how it ends.
By bringing together researchers, practitioners, students, and the public, this event aims to spark conversations that go beyond fear or fatigue. It is about finding new ways to talk about antibiotics that empower action, foster trust, and inspire care.
How we talk about AMR shapes what happens next. That is where the future of this fight begins, not only in laboratories and policies, but in the conversations we have today.
Spreading Resistance, Not Resistance takes place at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge on Saturday 22nd November. To find out more and book your place at the event, please click here.
About the author
Edwin Panford Quianoo
Senior AMR Technical Advisor, CwPAMS
Edwin has worked as a pharmacist in Australia, Ghana and England, gaining substantial management experience through his work in community, hospital and industry sectors. He is a Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England’s Global Health Fellow who has provided pharmacy leadership across various projects, including the CwPAMS programme.
As Senior AMR Technical Advisor for CwPAMS, Edwin collaborates with the AMR Technical Lead to provide expertise on antimicrobial stewardship and AMR initiatives delivered in-country.