Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)

23.05.2025

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)

Why is AMR a Critical Concern?

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) has evolved into a formidable threat to global health systems. Recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the ten greatest threats to public health, AMR jeopardizes the effectiveness of modern treatments and could reverse decades of medical progress.

What is AMR?

• Antimicrobials are a group of medicines that include antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, and antiparasitic drugs.
• They are used to treat infections caused by various microorganisms like bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites.
• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when these microorganisms evolve to withstand the effects of drugs that once killed them.
• AMR is mainly caused by the overuse, misuse, or natural mutation of microbes.
• As a result, infections become harder to cure, leading to increased deaths, longer hospital stays, and higher medical costs.

E.g.  in cases of Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB), the tuberculosis-causing bacteria do not respond to treatment with two key anti-TB medications: isoniazid (INH) and rifampicin (RMP).

Alarming Trends and Statistics

• Projected Burden: AMR could lead to 10 million deaths annually by 2050 without global action.
• Current Mortality: According to 2019 data, AMR caused an estimated 1.27 million deaths globally, with around 300,000 in India.
• Economic Impact: Resistant infections cause longer illness duration, higher treatment costs, and productivity losses, burdening national economies.
   

How AMR Spreads

Government Interventions

• Ban on Colistin: India prohibited the use of Colistin in the poultry sector to curb its misuse as a growth promoter.
• National Action Plan on AMR (2017): This plan aligns with the WHO’s Global Action Plan and addresses awareness, infection control, and antimicrobial use.
• Drug Innovation: Indian pharmaceutical firms have developed new antibiotics like Nefethromycin (branded ‘Mannef’) to treat drug-resistant pneumonia.
• Regulatory Authority: The CDSCO plays a central role in overseeing drug approvals and antibiotic safety protocols.
   

Key Challenges

• Shortage of trained personnel to enforce AMR policies.
• Unchecked sale of antibiotics in informal markets and pharmacies.
• Pressure from pharma companies to fast-track poorly tested drugs.
• Public unawareness about the dangers of antibiotic misuse.
• Lack of a robust nationwide surveillance system for tracking resistant strains.
   

Why Addressing AMR is Urgent

• Health Risks: Makes standard treatments ineffective, raising mortality rates.
• Economic Fallout: Longer treatments inflate healthcare spending.
• Medical Procedures at Risk: Complicates surgeries, chemotherapy, and transplant outcomes.
• Global Security: AMR may trigger drug-resistant pandemics, affecting global health infrastructure.
• Sustainable Development: Slows progress toward SDG-3 (Good Health and Well-being) and universal health coverage in India.
   

Way Forward

• Expand national surveillance infrastructure to map resistance trends.
• Launch widespread education campaigns on rational antibiotic use.
• Enforce stricter control over the sale of antibiotics without prescriptions.
• Adopt the One Health model—integrating human, animal, and environmental health efforts.
• Promote research into novel antibiotics and alternative therapies.
  Strengthen and legalize informal medicine distribution systems, especially in rural India.
   

Conclusion

Antimicrobial Resistance is an invisible but escalating crisis threatening healthcare systems and public well-being. Tackling it requires a multi-pronged strategy combining awareness, governance, innovation, and collaboration. Prompt action today is vital to prevent a post-antibiotic era tomorrow.