The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that inadequate funding, weak surveillance and poor coordination are undermining global efforts to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR), despite international commitments to reduce its impact by 2030.
The warning comes as bacterial antimicrobial resistance was associated with more than 4.7 million deaths worldwide in 2021, highlighting the growing threat to human health, agriculture, food security and the environment.
The Acting Director of WHO’s Antimicrobial Resistance Department, Dr Jean-Pierre Nyemazi, said the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials, poor infection prevention, inadequate water and sanitation, and environmental pollution were driving resistance.
He said world leaders had committed to reducing deaths associated with bacterial AMR by 10 per cent by 2030 and ensuring that at least 60 per cent of countries had funded national action plans.
However, he noted that implementation remained far behind those commitments.
Nyemazi said the updated Global Action Plan on AMR for 2026 to 2036 would help countries strengthen national responses through improved coordination, surveillance, responsible antimicrobial use and infection prevention.
He also announced that Nigeria would host the Fifth Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on AMR in Abuja from 6 to 8 December 2026.
The conference, themed “One Health: Advancing Global AMR Commitments through Local Action,” will review progress, address implementation challenges and renew political commitment.
The meeting is also expected to provide an opportunity to launch the Independent Panel on Evidence for Action against AMR.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has warned that global antibiotic use in livestock could increase by nearly 30 per cent by 2040 without stronger preventive measures.
FAO Deputy Chief Veterinarian, Dr Junxia Song, said improved animal health and farm management could reduce antibiotic use by up to 57 per cent. She called for stronger disease prevention, better farm practices, surveillance and sustainable financing.
Song said FAO’s 2026–2036 AMR roadmap would support countries in translating global commitments into practical action across the agri-food sector.
Similarly, the United Nations Environment Programme’s AMR Coordinator, Aitziber Echeverria, said environmental pollution remained a major driver of resistance.
She identified pharmaceutical manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare and municipal waste management as priority sectors for reducing the release of antimicrobial residues and resistant microorganisms.
Echeverria urged governments to improve wastewater treatment, strengthen environmental monitoring and involve environmental authorities in national AMR plans, warning that failure to address environmental drivers could undermine efforts in human and animal health.
Also, WHO Senior Technical Officer and Lead of Multisectoral Coordination on AMR, Dr Kefas Samson, identified inadequate financing, weak surveillance, limited diagnostic capacity, staff shortages and unequal access to quality-assured antimicrobials as major barriers to implementation.
He said WHO was promoting the 2030 target of ensuring that 70 per cent of antibiotics used in human healthcare belonged to the WHO Access group, alongside improved testing capacity for priority bacterial and fungal pathogens in at least 80 per cent of countries.
At the animal health level, WOAH Programme Officer, Dr Jane Lwoyero, said vaccination, farm biosecurity, disease surveillance and early detection could reduce animal infections and the need for antibiotics.
She cited annual global losses of up to 300 billion dollars from animal diseases and said fewer than 20 per cent of WOAH member countries vaccinated animals against notifiable diseases.
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