Federal Govt Adopts One Health Approach To Tackle Drug Resistance

The federal government has adopted a multi-sectoral approach involving the health, agriculture, livestock and environment sectors to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which was attributable to an estimated 64,500 deaths in Nigeria in 2019.

The coordinating minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, said the approach recognises the interconnectedness of human, animal and environmental health in preventing and controlling drug resistance.

At a press conference in Abuja on Monday, ahead of the fifth Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on AMR, Pate described antimicrobial resistance as a “hidden pandemic” that makes infections increasingly difficult to treat.

He said patients treated for pneumonia and other infectious diseases could experience prolonged illness, complications or death when prescribed antimicrobials failed to work.

According to figures from the Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance study cited by the government, bacterial AMR was directly responsible for an estimated 1.27 million deaths globally in 2019.

Pate said the livestock sector used more antibiotics than the human health sector, stressing that responsible use across both sectors was essential to reducing the development and spread of resistance.

He said the government was strengthening antimicrobial stewardship in federal hospitals, infection prevention and control, laboratory capacity and regulation to promote appropriate antimicrobial use and improve the treatment of infections.

The minister added that the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare had operated an antimicrobial stewardship programme for federal hospitals and other facilities over the preceding two and a half years.

He also highlighted the roles of regulatory agencies in ensuring that medicines available in the market were genuine and addressing the indiscriminate sale of antimicrobials.

However, Pate acknowledged gaps in Nigeria’s AMR surveillance, noting that stronger systems were needed to establish the scale of the problem and guide effective interventions.

The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Dr Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, said AMR also threatened agriculture and food security, as inappropriate antimicrobial use could undermine disease control, compromise food safety, disrupt trade and threaten livelihoods.

He said the government’s agricultural response would include promoting responsible antimicrobial use, strengthening food safety systems, expanding agricultural extension services and educating farmers on good agricultural practices and biosecurity.

The Minister of Environment said antimicrobial resistance could spread across people, animals, farms, food systems, water, soil and waste, making coordinated action across sectors imperative.

He said the four ministries responsible for health, agriculture and food security, livestock development, and the environment had committed to establishing a joint coordination mechanism, implementing sector-specific interventions and publicly reporting progress.

The government is preparing to host the fifth Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on AMR in Abuja from December 6 to 8, 2026, under the theme, “One Health: Advancing Global AMR Commitments to Local Action.”

The conference, the first of its kind to be held on African soil, is expected to bring together governments and other stakeholders to accelerate interventions and strengthen global coordination against antimicrobial resistance.

A key expected outcome is the Abuja Compact on Antimicrobial Resistance, which is being developed through consultations with member states and other stakeholders to translate global commitments into measurable action.