The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remains one of the world’s gravest public health threats, with bacterial drug resistance associated with more than 4.7 million deaths in 2021, urging governments to translate political commitments into urgent, measurable action.
The global health body said the growing threat, driven by the misuse and overuse of antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines, weak infection prevention, poor water and sanitation, and environmental pollution, could undermine the treatment of common infections and reverse gains in human and animal health.
The warning comes ahead of the 2026 World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week, WAAW, scheduled for November 18 to 24, with the theme, “One Health, One Action: Prevent AMR Now.”
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 challenge as both a health emergency and a development threat.
“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 said the millions of deaths associated with bacterial AMR should not be treated as mere statistics.
“These are not just statistics. Behind these numbers are patients, families, farmers and communities,” he said.
He expressed concern that despite global political commitments to tackle AMR, implementation remained far below expectations.
At the 2024 United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AMR, world leaders adopted a Political Declaration, committing to reduce bacterial AMR-associated deaths by 10 per cent by 2030, against a 2019 baseline of 4.95 million.
They also pledged to ensure that at least 60 per cent of countries had funded national AMR action plans by 2030 and called for at least $100 million in catalytic funding, including through the AMR Multi-Partner Trust Fund.
However, Nyemazi said: “The gap between commitments and pledges versus implementation remains wide,” identifying inadequate financing, fragmented coordination and weak surveillance as major obstacles.
