Experts in the medical field have raised concerns about the impact of antimicrobial resistance on patients and healthcare delivery in Nigeria.
Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to medicines, making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness, and death.
This resistance can lead to ineffective treatments, prolonged illness, higher healthcare costs, and a greater risk of severe outcomes or death.
Antimicrobials, which include antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, and antiparasitics, are crucial for preventing and treating infections in humans, animals, and plants.
The World Health Organization estimates that bacterial AMR was directly responsible for 1.27 million global deaths in 2019 and contributed to 4.95 million deaths.
The World Bank predicts that AMR could result in $1 trillion in additional healthcare costs by 2050 and $1 trillion to $3.4 trillion in GDP losses per year by 2030.
A recent report from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention highlighted the escalating risk of falling ill or dying from diseases that resist treatment in Africa, with children and other vulnerable groups being most at risk.
The report also emphasized that Africa bears a significant burden of infectious diseases, including malaria, HIV, and TB, with high mortality rates due to antimicrobial resistance.
Dr. Oladipo Kolawole, a Medical Virologist and Immunologist at Adeleke University in Ede, Osun State, noted that AMR is increasingly burdening healthcare systems worldwide.
“This has increased healthcare costs: Treating drug-resistant infections is more expensive. Patients often require longer hospital stays, more intensive care, and the use of last-resort or newer, more expensive antibiotics. AMR is associated with a higher risk of complications and mortality. Infections that were once easily treatable, such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, and sepsis, are now becoming life-threatening due to resistance.
“Also, resistant pathogens can spread within communities and healthcare settings, leading to outbreaks that are difficult to control and require significant public health resources. AMR threatens the effectiveness of surgeries, cancer therapies, and organ transplants. These procedures rely on effective antibiotics to prevent and treat infections, but with increasing resistance, their safety and success rates are compromised.
“AMR could roll back decades of progress in medicine. The ability to treat infections is fundamental to many aspects of healthcare, and rising resistance undermines this foundation. In addition, AMR does not recognize borders, making it a global health challenge that requires coordinated international efforts to address through surveillance, research, and new treatments,” he explained.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a pressing global health issue that demands immediate attention.
According to experts, AMR occurs when microbes develop resistance to antibiotics, rendering them ineffective in destroying the microbes . This resistance poses a significant threat to human health, food production, and life expectancy.
In fact, if left unchecked, AMR could lead to 10 million annual deaths and a cumulative economic loss of $100 trillion by 2050.
“This will lead to symptoms and signs of the illness remaining unabated and even can lead to death. It can prolong hospital stay and duration of treatment with antibiotics, which attracts direct and indirect costs to patients.
“When AMR occurs to a particular antibiotic, it means a stronger antibiotic has to be used or a combination of antibiotics to kill the microbes. Such antibiotics are usually costlier. Newer antibiotics have to be produced when older ones are no longer effective and they are very expensive,” Akande stressed.
