Antibiotics: Experts Warn Against Rising Antimicrobial Resistance

Health experts have raised concerns over the widespread misuse of antibiotics in Nigeria, warning that the growing trend of self-medication is accelerating antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and threatening the effectiveness of life-saving medicines.

During a two-day media training on antimicrobial resistance reporting organised by the A-STEP Project of the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) in Abuja, the principal investigator of the A-STEP Project and assistant professor at the University of Waterloo, Canada, Dr Charity Oga-Omenka, said studies indicated that nearly 70 per cent of Nigerians obtain antibiotics without a prescription, a practice that is fuelling antimicrobial resistance.

She said tackling AMR requires a collective effort involving healthcare providers, pharmacists, patent medicine vendors, policymakers, journalists and the general public.

“We have not conducted a national prevalence study ourselves, but available studies suggest that close to 70 per cent of Nigerians obtain antibiotics without prescriptions. Everyone has a role to play in addressing this problem,” she said.

Oga-Omenka cautioned Nigerians against self-diagnosis and self-medication, stressing that symptoms of many diseases overlap and that only proper medical evaluation and laboratory tests can determine the appropriate treatment.

She explained that laboratory testing helps identify the specific organism causing an infection and determines which antibiotics remain effective against it.

“You cannot diagnose yourself with malaria simply because you have a fever. COVID-19, tuberculosis, influenza or other infections could cause similar symptoms. Proper diagnosis and laboratory tests are necessary to ensure patients receive the right medication,” she said.

She acknowledged that the cost of medical consultations and laboratory investigations may discourage many Nigerians from seeking professional care. Still, she knows that an accurate diagnosis ultimately prevents treatment failure, prolonged illness and unnecessary spending on ineffective drugs.

The researcher described antimicrobial resistance as a collective public health challenge, explaining that resistant organisms can spread from one person to another regardless of whether the infected individual had used antibiotics responsibly.

“It’s like climate change. No one individual can solve it alone. Every stakeholder must be involved because resistant organisms can spread from person to person,” she added.

Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of IHVN, Dr Patrick Dakum, who was represented by the Senior Programme Manager, Research and Evaluation, and Chair of the IHVN Ethics Committee, Dr Nnakelu Eriobu,  described AMR as a “silent problem” that often goes unnoticed until treatments fail.

He explained that antimicrobial resistance occurs when medicines used to treat bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic infections no longer work effectively, leaving patients without improvement despite taking medications.

“When drugs no longer work, patients continue to spend money on treatment without getting better. They lose productive work hours, suffer financially and may eventually experience severe health complications,” Eriopu said.

He stressed that AMR extends beyond pharmacies and hospitals, noting that medical doctors, patent medicine vendors, traditional birth attendants, livestock farmers and environmental health practices all contribute to the problem.

According to him, improving public knowledge remains one of the most effective ways to reduce inappropriate antibiotic use, making journalists critical partners in communicating scientific information in ways that ordinary Nigerians can understand.

“We can have all the scientific evidence, but if journalists do not communicate it effectively to the public, then the science will have little impact. That is why this training is important,” he said.

Earlier, the founding chairperson of the Nigeria AMR Media Alliance (NAMA), Ojoma Akor, described antimicrobial resistance as a silent pandemic that is making common infections harder to treat, increasing healthcare costs, prolonging hospital stays and threatening decades of progress in modern medicine.

She urged journalists to move beyond event-based reporting and investigate how antibiotic misuse in communities, healthcare facilities, agriculture and the environment is driving antimicrobial resistance.

Participants were encouraged to use evidence-based reporting to improve public awareness, influence policy discussions and promote responsible antibiotic use across Nigeria.