Nigeria Admits AMR Surveillance Weaknesses Ahead of Global Conference in Abuja
Nigeria's Health Minister Muhammad Pate acknowledged Monday in Abuja that the country's antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance has significant gaps, meaning current estimates of 64,500 attributable and 263,400 associated AMR deaths in 2019 likely undercount the true burden. Speaking ahead of the Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on AMR (Dec 6-8, 2026 in Abuja—the first such conference on African soil), Pate called AMR a 'hidden pandemic' where resistant infections prolong illness and cause death when standard treatments fail.
The minister explained that without proper lab capacity to test drug sensitivity, patients with pneumonia, typhoid or other infections may receive ineffective antibiotics, suffer longer, develop complications or die. Current data shows only 7.3% of Nigeria's 302 laboratories surveyed are fully ready for AMR surveillance, with capacity concentrated in government and tertiary labs while rural facilities are underused.
To address this, Nigeria launched its first nationally representative AMR survey in December 2025, covering 40-45 health facilities and about 35,000 patients suspected of bloodstream infections to establish a national baseline. The government is also implementing antimicrobial stewardship in federal hospitals, strengthening regulatory oversight, improving pharmaceutical distribution, expanding diagnostic capacity and training health workers.
Pate urged Nigerians to avoid indiscriminate antibiotic use, stating 'It's not every cough that needs to use antibiotics. It's not every catarrh that needs to use antibiotics,' and to seek medical advice before taking them. The Abuja conference will focus on reviewing progress, accelerating interventions and developing the Abuja Compact on AMR through joint coordination of health, agriculture, livestock and environment sectors.