Global leaders sound alarm on Antimicrobial Resistance as silent pandemic claims more than one million lives each year
Global health experts have issued an urgent call for coordinated action on antimicrobial resistance at the 5th Annual Global Media Forum. The gathering, held ahead of World AMR Awareness Week, highlighted that drug resistant infections now kill more than one million people every year, which is equivalent to two lives lost every minute.
Dr Jean Pierre Nyemazi, Director of the Quadripartite Joint Secretariat on AMR, warned that the world is running out of time. He told delegates that in the next 90 minutes more than 180 people would die because of drug resistant infections. He noted that although over 90% of countries have developed national action plans, only 22% are implementing them with proper monitoring and financing. Only 11% have allocated the domestic funding required to take their plans forward.
The 2024 United Nations Political Declaration on AMR set a target for at least 60% of countries to have fully funded AMR action plans by 2030. Member States also committed to mobilising at least 100 million United States dollars through mechanisms such as the AMR Multi Partner Trust Fund. The Trust Fund has already helped countries strengthen surveillance systems, improve laboratory capacity and expand infection prevention measures.
Speakers pointed to progress in Zimbabwe and Cambodia as clear evidence that AMR can be tackled when countries invest in coordinated action. Zimbabwe has significantly reduced infection rates through the introduction of typhoid conjugate vaccines and domestic production of livestock vaccines. Cambodia used one million dollars in seed funding to secure an additional 34 million dollars for One Health initiatives that strengthen responses across human health, animal health, agriculture and the environment.
Global Leaders Group on AMR (GLG) member and Former Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport, Netherlands, Ernst Kuipers, urged governments and the media to treat AMR with the seriousness it deserves. He reminded the forum that AMR is a silent pandemic that grows slowly and often without public awareness until the consequences become devastating. Kuipers said that declarations mean very little unless they lead to measurable change and he emphasised that effective communication is essential.
He added that media professionals are not simply messengers but are multipliers of impact who can make the invisible visible, connect global commitments to local realities and hold policymakers accountable. He encouraged organisations to involve journalists early in the planning and strategy stage rather than only approaching them at the point of dissemination.
Several themes defined the discussions throughout the forum. Speakers stressed that AMR is one of the most serious global health threats of our time and that it requires shared responsibility as well as collaboration across human health, animal health, agriculture and environmental sectors. They noted that although many countries have strategy documents, very few have dedicated domestic budgets to implement them. There was a strong call for sustainable investment, improved communication and behavioural change efforts that translate technical information into messages that inspire understanding and action.
The forum concluded with the Global AMR Media Awards, which recognised journalists from 32 countries for their outstanding reporting on this critical health issue. As World AMR Awareness Week approaches, the message from global leaders remains clear. Without immediate investment and stronger collaboration the world risks losing the medicines that protect modern healthcare. Yet the success stories shared at the forum show that progress is possible when countries take decisive action.