“Protect, Preach, Prevent”: Can the Church Help Change How Communities Use Antibiotics?

For many people, a religious leader is more than someone they listen to on a Sunday. Faith leaders counsel families, work with young people, support people during illness and speak regularly about decisions that affect everyday life.

Could that influence also help communities understand antimicrobial resistance?

On 15 July 2026, ReAct Africa brought together religious leaders in Lusaka. The engagement, held in collaboration with ZNPHI, brought together 20 participants, including nine religious leaders, to discuss how churches and other faith spaces can support AMR awareness and responsible stewardship of medicines.

Making AMR relevant to faith communities

At the centre of the discussion was the AMR Sermon Guide, developed as a resource to help religious leaders communicate AMR through language and framing that resonate with faith communities.

The session invited participants to think beyond a conventional health-awareness campaign. A short clip describing the church as a “spiritual clinic” helped frame the discussion around the trusted role faith institutions already play in people’s lives. Religious leaders then reflected on experiences of antibiotic misuse within their own communities and considered where AMR messages could naturally fit into their existing work.

The answers went beyond the pulpit as participants identified sermons, pastoral counselling, youth activities and women’s and men’s fellowships as possible spaces for conversations about responsible medicine use.

Trusted messengers need the right tools

The engagement also highlighted an important consideration: trust alone is not enough. AMR is a complex subject, and oversimplifying it can create misunderstanding. Continued technical support, clear messages and simplified resources will therefore be important as faith leaders begin communicating about the issue.

The Sermon Guide provides one tool for doing this while allowing AMR messages to be connected to values and concepts that already resonate with congregations. Participating religious leaders committed to begin incorporating AMR messages into their congregational activities, with copies of the guide provided to support their engagement.

Under the tagline “Protect, Preach, Prevent AMR,” the initiative is opening another route for AMR communication, one that recognises that changing behaviours around medicines requires reaching people through the institutions and voices they already know and trust.