The recently-concluded 79th World Health Assembly, held in Geneva, has proposed the Draft Updated Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) for 2026–2036, signalling growing international concern over what health experts describe as a looming public health crisis.
According to the World Health Organization, “Antimicrobial Resistance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines. As a result of drug resistance, antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines become ineffective and infections become difficult or impossible to treat, increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness, disability and death.”
An estimated 1.27 million deaths were linked to bacterial AMR in 2019,
DISCLAIMER: This article is based on information from the public domain and/or the experts we spoke to.
Dr Neetu Jain, Senior Consultant, Pulmonology, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at PSRI Hospital, says the crisis is particularly severe in countries where infections are common and antibiotics are easily accessible.
“AMR is considered to be a major public health threat globally, but particularly so in countries like India where the prevalence of infection is high, and antibiotics are readily available,” says Dr Jain.
She warns that antibiotic resistance threatens to reverse decades of medical progress. “When medications no longer work, even routine infections, common surgical procedures, or chemotherapy will pose increased risks to patients,” she explains.
According to Dr Jain, AMR silently affects millions of people every year by increasing hospital stays, treatment costs and avoidable deaths. “The impact of antimicrobial resistance on healthcare is enormous because it affects recovery rates, complications and overall survival,” she says.
One of the biggest drivers of antimicrobial resistance is the misuse and overuse of antibiotics in everyday life. “Antibiotic misuse occurs when people self-prescribe, discontinue medication early, use antibiotics for viral infections like the common cold, or request unnecessary prescriptions,” says Dr Jain.
She points out that the easy over-the-counter availability of antibiotics and lack of public awareness continue to fuel the problem.
“Every instance of misuse creates an opportunity for bacteria to mutate and become stronger. This results in future infections taking longer and costing more to treat,” she explains.
The majority of practitioners are seeing a rise in resistance to infections such as urinary tract infections, pneumonia, tuberculosis and hospitalacquired infections, says Dr Jain. She notes that several antibiotics, which were
AMR is not restricted to hospitals,” says Dr Jain. “Antibiotics are widely used in poultry, livestock, aquaculture and farming for growth promotion and disease prevention.”
She explains that antibiotic residues can enter food, soil and water systems, allowing resistant bacteria to spread between animals, humans and the environment.
“This interconnected cycle shows that antimicrobial resistance is a major global challenge for the entire ecosystem,” she adds.
Preventive measures
Dr Jain says individuals can help by avoiding self-medication, completing prescribed antibiotic courses, never demanding antibiotics unnecessarily and following hygiene practices that reduce infections in the first place.
DISCLAIMER: This article is based on information from the public domain and/or the experts we spoke to.
