
Radar | Jan 29,2022
Sep 24 , 2022
By Pascale Ondoa (MD) , Yewande Alimi (MD)
Staphylococcus aureus is the source of a skin infection that can turn deadly if drug resistant. Estimates regarding the most common resistant variation, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), exceed 100,000 deaths globally in 2019.
But up until recently, we did not have a solid grasp on how much of a problem MRSA - or any other antimicrobial resistant pathogen - was in Africa. It turns out, after testing 187,000 samples from 14 countries for antibiotic resistance, our colleagues found that 40pc of all Staph infections were MRSA.
Africa, like every other continent, has an AMR problem. But Africa stands out because we have not invested in the capacity and resources needed to determine the scope of the problem, or how to fix it. Take MRSA. We still do not know what is causing the bacteria to become resistant, nor do we know the full extent of the problem.
We are failing to take AMR seriously, perhaps because it is not glamorous and relatable. The technology that we currently use to identify resistant pathogens is not fancy or futuristic looking. Combatting AMR does not involve miracle drugs, expensive treatments, or fancy diagnostic tests. Instead, we have bacteria and other pathogens that are commonplace and have learned how to shrug off the good old medicines that used to work.
The global health and pharmaceutical industries do not seem to consider solving this problem to be very profitable. Compare that to the urgency of solving COVID-19, which has been embraced - and interventions such as diagnostics subsidised - by governments eager to end the pandemic. The COVID-19 response has been characterized by innovations popping up literally every other week.
Why can we not mobilise resources and passion for AMR? Are resistant pathogens too boring? Is it too difficult to solve through innovations? Does this make prospects for quick wins and fast return on investment too elusive for AMR, especially when compared to COVID-19 or other infectious disease outbreaks?
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has repeatedly stated that AMR is a global health priority - and is in fact one of the leading public health threats of the 21st century. A recent study estimated that in 2019, nearly 1.3 million people died because of antimicrobial resistant bacterial infections, with Africa bearing the greatest burden of deaths. A high prevalence of AMR has also been identified in foodborne pathogens isolated from animals and animal products in Africa.
Collectively, these numbers suggest that the burden of AMR might be on the level of - or greater than - that of HIV/AIDS or COVID-19. The growing threat of AMR is likely to take a heavy toll on Africa’s health systems and poses a major threat to progress made in attaining public health goals set by individual nations, the African Union and the United Nations. And the paucity of accurate AMR information limits our ability to understand how well commonly used antimicrobials actually work. This also means we cannot determine the drivers of AMR infections and design effective interventions in response.
We have just wrapped up a project that gathered data on many of the scariest pathogens in 14 countries, revealing stark insights on the under-detected and under-reported depth of the AMR crisis across Africa. Less than two percent of the medical laboratories in the 14 countries examined can conduct bacteriology testing, even with conventional methods that were developed more than 30 years ago.
While providing national stakeholders with critical information to advance their policies on AMR, we have also trained and provided basic electronic tools to more than 300 health professionals to continue this important surveillance. While a strengthened workforce is critical, many health facilities on the continent are coping with interrupted access to electricity, poor connectivity, and serious, ongoing workforce shortages.
Our work has painted the dire reality of the AMR surveillance situation, informing concrete recommendations for improvement that align with the new continental public health ambition of the African Union and Africa Center for Disease Control (CDC). The challenge is to find the funding to expand this initiative to cover the entire African continent.
AMR containment requires a long-term focus - especially in Africa, where health systems are chronically underfunded, while also being disproportionately challenged by infectious threats. More funding needs to be dedicated to the problem and this cannot only come from international aid.
We urge African governments to honour past commitments and allocate more domestic funding to their health systems in general, and to solving the crisis of AMR in particular. We also call upon bilateral funders and global stakeholders to focus their priorities on improving the health of African peoples. This might require more attention to locally relevant evidence to inform investments and less attention to profit-driven market interventions, as well as prioritising the scale-up of technologies and strategies proven to work, whether or not they are innovations.
Containing AMR means we have to fix African health systems. The work starts now.
PUBLISHED ON
Sep 24,2022 [ VOL
23 , NO
1169]
Radar | Jan 29,2022
Agenda | Mar 13,2021
Commentaries | Oct 03,2024
Fortune News | Apr 27,2025
Radar | May 04,2025
Viewpoints | Jul 27,2019
Fortune News | Apr 22,2022
Radar | Sep 10,2021
My Opinion | Jul 22,2023
View From Arada | Jun 17,2023
My Opinion | 130942 Views | Aug 14,2021
My Opinion | 127282 Views | Aug 21,2021
My Opinion | 125274 Views | Sep 10,2021
My Opinion | 122936 Views | Aug 07,2021
Dec 22 , 2024 . By TIZITA SHEWAFERAW
Charged with transforming colossal state-owned enterprises into modern and competitiv...
Aug 18 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Although predictable Yonas Zerihun's job in the ride-hailing service is not immune to...
Jul 28 , 2024 . By TIZITA SHEWAFERAW
Unhabitual, perhaps too many, Samuel Gebreyohannes, 38, used to occasionally enjoy a couple of beers at breakfast. However, he recently swit...
Jul 13 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Investors who rely on tractors, trucks, and field vehicles for commuting, transporting commodities, and f...
Jun 14 , 2025
Yet again, the Horn of Africa is bracing for trouble. A region already frayed by wars...
Jun 7 , 2025
Few promises shine brighter in Addis Abeba than the pledge of a roof for every family...
May 31 , 2025
It is seldom flattering to be bracketed with North Korea and Myanmar. Ironically, Eth...
May 24 , 2025
Public hospitals have fallen eerily quiet lately. Corridors once crowded with patient...
Jun 15 , 2025
Kegna Beverages on Saturday, June 14, 2025, uncorked its first bottles of Kegna Beer...
Jun 15 , 2025 . By NAHOM AYELE
The federal government presented legislators with a budget proposal for the fiscal ye...
Jun 15 , 2025 . By BEZAWIT HULUAGER
A three-year effort by the Audit Stakeholders Forum to restore fiscal discipline acro...
Environmental authorities have signalled a shift toward regulatory intervention, intr...