The World Health Organisation has warned that bacterial antimicrobial resistance was associated with more than 4.7 million deaths in 2021 and called on governments to turn political commitments into concrete action, as Nigeria prepares to host a major global conference on the threat.
Speaking at the sixth Annual Global Media Forum on AMR, Dr Jean-Pierre Nyemazi, Director a.i. of WHO’s Department of Antimicrobial Resistance and Director of the Quadripartite Joint Secretariat on AMR, described the crisis as both a health emergency and a development challenge. “AMR is one of the most urgent global health threats and development challenges. It threatens our ability to treat infections, protect animal and plant health, and produce safe food, and also has an impact on the environment,” he said.
Nyemazi stressed that the death figures represent real people rather than abstract numbers. “These are not just statistics. Behind these numbers are patients, families, farmers and communities,” he said. He noted that despite high-level pledges, implementation remains far behind. At the 2024 United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AMR, leaders committed to cut bacterial AMR-associated deaths by 10 per cent by 2030 from a 2019 baseline of 4.95 million, ensure at least 60 per cent of countries have funded national action plans by the same year, and mobilise at least $100 million in catalytic funding. “The gap between commitments and pledges versus implementation remains wide,” Nyemazi said, pointing to inadequate financing, fragmented coordination and weak surveillance.
The Fifth Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on AMR is scheduled for Abuja from December 6 to 8. An updated Global Action Plan on AMR covering 2026–2036 has been finalised and is expected to be launched at the meeting, along with the Independent Panel on Evidence for Action against AMR. The warning also comes ahead of World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week from November 18 to 24, themed “One Health, One Action: Prevent AMR Now.”
Dr Kefas Samson, Senior Technical Officer and Lead of Multisectoral Coordination in WHO’s AMR Department, said country-level progress is uneven. Barriers include inadequate funding, weak surveillance of resistance and antimicrobial use, poor infection prevention in health facilities, limited diagnostic capacity, unequal access to quality medicines and shortages of health workers. He described the new Global Action Plan as a framework to turn the 2024 UN political declaration into measurable national actions. Priorities include prevention, surveillance, responsible antimicrobial use, stronger laboratories, equitable access to medicines, resilient supply chains, research and sustainable financing. Targets for 2030 include ensuring that 70 per cent of antibiotics used in human health fall into WHO’s Access group and that 80 per cent of countries can test for priority bacterial and fungal pathogens under the Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation warned that global antibiotic use in livestock could rise by nearly 30 per cent by 2040 without stronger preventive measures. Dr Junxia Song, FAO Deputy Chief Veterinarian and Chief of its One Health and Disease Control Branch, said improved animal health and farm management could cut antibiotic use by as much as 57 per cent. “Prevention must become central to the global fight against antimicrobial resistance, with farmers placed at the heart of the response,” she said. She noted that agricultural priorities are often underfunded in national plans and that nearly half of countries have incomplete or no legislation governing antimicrobial use in animals and plants. FAO’s Reduce the Need for Antimicrobials on Farms initiative has attracted more than 400 partners, including over 80 member countries.
Aitziber Echeverria of the United Nations Environment Programme stressed that environmental pollution from pharmaceutical manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare and wastewater must be addressed as part of the response. “The environment plays a key role in the emergence, transmission and spread of AMR. The environment and AMR cannot be treated separately,” she said. Dr Jane Lwoyero of the World Organisation for Animal Health called for greater investment in animal health systems, noting that every dollar spent on prevention can yield a $28 return. She said global antimicrobial use in animals fell by three per cent between 2019 and 2024, though use for growth promotion remains a concern. Fewer than 20 per cent of WOAH member countries vaccinate animals against notifiable diseases, while animal diseases cause estimated annual losses of up to $300 billion.
Shobha Shukla, chairperson of the Global AMR Media Alliance, said the core challenge is no longer recognition of the problem but securing the funding, surveillance, laboratory capacity and accountability needed for implementation. She urged responsible use of antimicrobials alongside stronger infection prevention.
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