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Chapter 39 - Antimicrobial Resistance in Africa

from Section 5 - Bacterial Infections

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2025

By
Japheth A. Opintan ,
Noah Obeng-Nkrumah ,
Antoinette A.A. Bediako-Bowan  and
Appiah-Korang Labi
Edited by
David Mabey ,
Martin W. Weber ,
Moffat Nyirenda ,
Dorothy Yeboah-Manu ,
Jackson Orem ,
Laura Benjamin ,
Michael Marks  and
Nicholas A. Feasey
David Mabey
Affiliation:
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Martin W. Weber
Affiliation:
World Health Organization
Moffat Nyirenda
Affiliation:
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Dorothy Yeboah-Manu
Affiliation:
Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana
Jackson Orem
Affiliation:
Uganda Cancer Institute, Kampala
Laura Benjamin
Affiliation:
University College London
Michael Marks
Affiliation:
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Nicholas A. Feasey
Affiliation:
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
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Summary

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global public health threat with a potential to ruin gains made in modern medicine, and it will further limit several African countries from achieving specific objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals – in particular, Universal Health Coverage by 2030. This is mainly due to increasing prevalence of resistant organisms and the decreasing innovations for new therapeutics. In both low- and high-income countries, AMR generally increases health-care costs, length of stay in hospitals, morbidity and mortality. Current estimates show that AMR accounts for greater than 700,000 deaths per year worldwide. In economic terms, AMR will cost approximately 10 million lives and about US$100 trillion per year by 2050, with a significant burden expected in Africa if no action is taken to halt it (O’Neill 2016).

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Principles of Medicine in Africa , pp. 433 - 440
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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