…Ministers seek stronger surveillance, responsible antibiotic use
By Sola Ogundipe
The Federal government has raised the alarm over the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), warning that patients are suffering prolonged illnesses, failing to respond to treatment and dying from infections that antibiotics should ordinarily help control.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Ali Pate, stated this at a joint One Health ministerial Media Conference ahead of the fifth Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance billed to hold in Abuja in December.
Pate, who described AMR as a “hidden pandemic”, said gaps in Nigeria’s surveillance system were hampering efforts to establish the full scale of the threat, even as hospitals continued to encounter difficult-to-treat infections.
He said addressing the challenge required collaboration across human health, livestock, agriculture and the environment, noting that inappropriate use of antibiotics in animals could contribute to resistance affecting humans.
“Antimicrobial resistance is a hidden pandemic, it is silent. People go to hospitals for treatment for pneumonia, typhoid and other infectious diseases. In some cases, without proper knowledge of the susceptibility of the infection to the antimicrobial being used, patients may suffer for much longer than necessary. Some may develop complications or lose their lives.”
The warning came amid concerns over inappropriate antibiotic use, inadequate diagnostic capacity and the circulation of substandard and counterfeit medicines, all of which complicate the fight against drug-resistant infections.
Pate admitted that Nigeria still lacked the surveillance capacity needed to measure the burden accurately, making it difficult to produce estimates comparable with those of countries with stronger monitoring systems.
“There is no doubt that antimicrobial resistance exists in Nigeria. Our hospitals see cases of complicated pneumonia in which patients receive multiple antibiotics without responding to treatment. In some instances, the underlying reason is antimicrobial resistance,” he said.
Pate said Nigeria could not contain the threat by focusing on hospitals alone, as antibiotic use in livestock production, environmental contamination and poor infection prevention practices also contribute to the problem.
“The livestock sector uses more antibiotics than the human health sector,” he said, calling for responsible use across both human and animal health.”
He added that the Federal Government was adopting a whole-of-government approach involving the ministries responsible for health, livestock, agriculture and the environment, alongside state governments, regulators, the private sector and development partners.
On medicine regulation, the minister said the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) was working to ensure that antimicrobials in circulation were genuine and not counterfeit, while the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria was strengthening oversight of medicine distribution.
He warned that the public’s casual approach to antibiotics was worsening the challenge, urging Nigerians to stop treating the drugs as routine remedies for common symptoms.
“Not every cough requires antibiotics, and not every episode of diarrhoea requires them either,” he said, advising people to consult qualified healthcare professionals before taking antibiotics,” he stated.
According to Pate, “inappropriate dosing and failure to follow prescribed treatment instructions could contribute to the emergence and spread of resistance.”
Further, Pate urged stronger public education, including the use of local languages and real-life stories to explain how drug-resistant infections affect families and communities.
Also speaking, the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal, said AMR could spread across sectors through water, soil, waste systems, farms, food and human activity.
Lawal called for stronger coordination, local action, inclusive participation and public accountability to ensure that commitments made at the conference produce measurable results.
He highlighted the role of environmental sanitation and hygiene in preventing infections and reducing the need for antibiotics.
From the agriculture sector, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Dr Aliyu Abdullahi, warned that AMR threatened food security, food safety, agricultural livelihoods and international trade.
Abdullahi said the inappropriate and excessive use of antimicrobials in animal production and agriculture could undermine disease control and food safety. He called for responsible use of antimicrobials and agrochemicals, stronger food-safety measures, improved biosecurity and increased education for farmers through agricultural extension services.
The Ministry of Livestock Development also called for more intensive farmer education, particularly on vaccination, hygiene, biosecurity and responsible antibiotic use.
Farmers were urged to use antibiotics only when necessary, under veterinary guidance, and to observe the prescribed withdrawal period before animals or animal products entered the market.
The Fifth Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance is scheduled to hold in Abuja from December 6 to 8, 2026.
The conference is expected to bring together governments, scientists, civil society and other stakeholders to advance coordinated efforts against AMR through the One Health approach.
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