Act now: Protect our present, secure our future
On the occasion of World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week (18–24 November 2025) WAAW 2025, under the theme; ‘Act now: Protect our present, secure our future’, it is more necessary than ever to understand, raise awareness and take action.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites become insensitive to the drugs designed to eliminate them. Infections however become incurable leading to death. AMR is not only a threat to humans but resistant pathogens are also found in soil, water, food and even in the air we breathe. In Africa, if care is not taken, 4.1 million people could die as a result of AMR by 2050 (WHO).
Resistant infections are on the rise, yet investment remains inadequate, and public awareness is still too low. Our health, agricultural and environmental systems are already experiencing the impact.
The One Health approach has the potential to unite disciplines and all relevant stakeholders in finding sustainable solutions for Africa and beyond. Afrique One consortium research on AMR supports this view, highlighting the strong connections between the environment, the food chain, particularly among Ready-to-eat (RTE) food, and clinical AMR (Dela H, 2022). Foodborne infections are widespread, and the situation is worsening as antibiotic resistance rises due to misuse across the food chain. Resistant bacteria such as E. coli, K. pneumoniae, Salmonella, S. aureus and E. faecalis have already been detected in RTE food, some carrying ESBL or MRSA genes.
« Without coordinated, multi-sector responses, we risk sliding back into the pre-antibiotic era, where common infections become deadly, surgeries become too risky, and essential treatments lose their effectiveness » says Dr Helena Dela (Post-doctoral fellow, Afrique One, NMIMR-Ghana)
The quadripartite (FAO, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH)) is calling for urgent action across all sectors, urging governments to enhance surveillance and invest in research, healthcare professionals to prescribe responsibly, farmers and veterinarians to curb unnecessary antimicrobial use, and the public to avoid self-medication and advocate for concrete measures.
« In the short term, it is crucial, within the One Health approach, to integrate food and environmental surveillance into the national AMR control system. Established One Health platforms, supported by AMR Thematic Working Groups must ensure that health stakeholders strictly enforce compliance to regulations and that public awareness of the multifaceted risks of AMR emergence is strengthened, » says Prof Bassirou Bonfoh, Director of Afrique One.
From advancing with new technologies such as bacteriophage research to strengthening food safety policies and adopting responsible daily practices, we already have the hope for tools to ‘resist resistance’.
The time to act is now, for ourselves, our children and the generations to come.
