By Chioma Vivian James
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has raised a fresh alarm over the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), revealing that drug-resistant bacterial infections are killing two people every minute, amounting to about one million deaths annually.
The warning came during a press conference organised by WHO and Member of the European Parliament, Hon. Martin Häusling, in Brussels, as part of an exhibition highlighting the real-life experiences of people affected by AMR.
Acting Director, AMR Department, WHO headquarters, Dr Jean-Pierre Nyemazi, said the figures demonstrate that AMR is no longer a silent or distant threat.
“One million people die every year due to drug-resistant bacteria alone — that is, two people every minute die of bacterial AMR,” he said.
He explained that resistant pathogens move between countries, continents, humans and animals, making AMR a global One Health challenge.
The Nigerian connection
For Nigeria, the warning is particularly significant because the factors driving inappropriate antimicrobial use include challenges surrounding timely healthcare access, diagnosis, prescription practices and public understanding.
Nyemazi said governments must strengthen primary healthcare systems to ensure that patients receive proper diagnosis before treatment.
He warned that where healthcare is difficult to access, people may go directly to pharmacies for medicines, including antibiotics, without proper medical assessment.
He therefore called for stronger enforcement of regulations on prescription-only antibiotics, public education and technology capable of tracking medicines dispensed by pharmacies.
He also stressed the need for Nigeria’s private healthcare sector to participate fully in the AMR response.
“Everyone has a role,” he said, noting that government, civil society, private providers and communities must work together.
Nyemazi also identified poor coordination as one of the biggest obstacles to controlling AMR because the crisis cuts across human health, veterinary medicine, agriculture, food production and the environment.
A headache that became meningitis
The dangers of delayed diagnosis were illustrated by Rob Purdie, an AMR survivor who has lived with the consequences of a resistant fungal infection for more than a decade.
Purdie said his illness began in January 2012 with a headache.
He was diagnosed with sinus infection and prescribed antibiotics. When he failed to improve, another doctor prescribed a different antibiotic after making the same diagnosis.
His condition worsened until an ear, nose and throat specialist ordered diagnostic tests.
He was eventually admitted to hospital after developing severe headaches, nausea and vision problems. A lumbar puncture finally revealed that a fungal infection had progressed to meningitis.
Purdie subsequently failed several antifungal drugs and required complex salvage therapy.
The treatment itself brought further complications. He said one antifungal medicine caused photosensitivity that contributed to squamous cell carcinoma, leading to several subsequent cancer removals.
His illness also forced him out of work for about five years.
“My ability to earn a living was completely eliminated for about five years in a single-income household where I provided for my wife and two children,” he said.
More than 13 years later, he remains on daily medication because the available drugs control the infection but cannot cure it.
“You lose a lot,” Purdie said.
WHO: Prevention is cheaper than the consequences
Nyemazi said prevention remains the most effective weapon against AMR.
He listed vaccination, infection prevention and control, water, sanitation and hygiene, responsible antimicrobial use, surveillance, improved animal husbandry and access to quality medicines and diagnostics among the measures that can reduce the threat.
“The tools exist and the evidence is there, but the cost of inaction is rising. The longer we delay action, the higher the cost becomes,” he said.
Animals also part of the problem
Häusling warned against routine mass treatment of animals with antibiotics.
“When one chicken becomes sick, the entire group is given antibiotics even if the others show no symptoms. We have to move away from this mass treatment,” he said.
He also warned that resistant organisms could enter the environment through contaminated wastewater from intensive animal production.
He called for an end to unnecessary prophylactic use and excessive reliance on last-resort antibiotics.
New global target
Nyemazi said the updated Global Action Plan on AMR, approved by WHO Member States in May 2026, has strengthened the focus on prevention, governance, measurable targets and behavioural change.
The global target is to reduce deaths associated with bacterial AMR by 10 per cent by 2030.
He said the target could be achieved through infection prevention and control, vaccination and improved access to quality antimicrobials.
Purdie said the media has an important role in achieving the target by keeping AMR in public discussion.
“A 10% reduction is achievable, but it takes all of us — including educating journalists and the public,” he said.
Nyemazi also called for investment in new antibiotics, antifungals, phage therapy and other technologies, but stressed that new medicines must be protected through responsible use.
“We have to do both: develop new tools and protect the ones we already have,” he said.
For Nigeria, the warning underscores the need to make timely diagnosis, responsible antibiotic use, stronger pharmacy regulation, infection prevention, vaccination and coordinated healthcare delivery central to the national response.
As Purdie’s experience demonstrates, when diagnosis is delayed and medicines lose their effectiveness, the consequences extend far beyond the hospital reaching families, livelihoods and the wider economy.