By Wodera James

Africa is bearing the heaviest burden of the global antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis, with drug-resistant infections now causing more deaths on the continent than HIV, tuberculosis and malaria combined, experts attending the just concluded AMR Conference 2026 in Mombasa heard last week.

Presenting on “The Global State of AMR and What It Means for Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs)”, continental Lead and Director for Africa at the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) and Senior Principal Research Officer at KEMRI, Prof. Sam Kariuki, warned that “the world risks sliding into a “postantibiotic era” unless urgent, coordinated action is taken”. And warned, “we must act and act now or we will sure be overcome by this crisis” during the conference that brought together AMR experts not only in Kenya, but also other African countries including Nigeria.

According to Prof. Kariuki, global data paint a stark picture. In 2021 alone, an estimated 1.14 million deaths were directly attributed to bacterial AMR worldwide. “Projections indicate that by 2050, drug-resistant infections could claim up to 10 million lives annually if current trends persist. Low- and middle-income countries, particularly in Africa, account for a disproportionate share of these deaths”.

To put the crisis into perspective, Prof. Kariuki compared AMR to COVID-19. While COVID-19 caused an estimated 3.55 million deaths globally in 2021, bacterial AMR was responsible for more than one million deaths in the same year. In Africa, the situation is even more severe, with AMR-related mortality estimated at 27.3 deaths per 100,000 people, exceeding the combined toll of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

Beyond health impacts, AMR poses a significant economic threat. Countries across Africa stand to lose up to five per cent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) due to reduced productivity, increased healthcare costs and pressure on already strained health systems.

According to Prof. Kariuki, children are among the most affected. “Recent studies link nearly three million child deaths globally to drug-resistant infections, with Africa and Asia carrying the greatest burden. Common but increasingly difficult-to-treat diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, typhoid, cholera and meningitis are driving high mortality rates”, he intimated.

Prof. Kariuki highlighted several drivers of AMR in Africa, including the overuse and misuse of antimicrobials in humans, animals and agriculture. He pointed out that poor state of domestic Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) infrastructure, weak infection prevention and control in healthcare facilities, limited access to quality diagnostics, and low vaccination coverage as being key drivers of the crisis.