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The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, has described Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) as a hidden and silent pandemic responsible for thousands of preventable deaths in Nigeria and over a million globally.
Prof. Pate who disclosed in a webinar on Tuesday, said Nigeria will host the 5th Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) from December 6 to 8, 2026 in Abuja.
He said this is the first time the conference will be held on African soil.
Blueprint reports that the theme of the conference is: “One Health: Advancing Global AMR Commitments to Local Action”
The briefing was jointly addressed by the Ministers of Health and Social Welfare, Agriculture and Food Security, Livestock Development and Environment.
According to the minister, AMR occurs when pneumonia, typhoid and other infections fail to respond to treatment due to indiscriminate and improper use of antimicrobials, leading to prolonged illness, complications and deaths.
“AMR is a hidden pandemic. It’s silent. People go to hospitals, get treated for pneumonia, typhoid or whatever infectious disease without proper knowledge of sensitivity to the antimicrobial being used. It is a complicated problem and that is exactly why we are approaching it from a whole-of-government perspective,” Pate said.
He said the livestock sector uses more antibiotics than the human health sector, hence the need for a multi-sectoral approach involving health, livestock, agriculture, environment and water.
Pate added that the Federal Ministry of Health has, in the last two and a half years, implemented an antimicrobial stewardship programme in federal hospitals, set up a clinical governance task force to curb hospital-acquired infections, and is working with NAFDAC, the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) and the Medical Laboratory Science Council to ensure genuine drugs, stop indiscriminate sales and expand diagnostic capacity.
“On the scale of the threat, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Salako, who read the ministerial statement, quoted the Lancet GRAM Study of 2022 which showed that bacterial AMR was directly responsible for an estimated 1.27 million deaths worldwide in 2019, with Nigeria accounting for 64,500 deaths.
“Without action, more than 39 million deaths could be directly attributable to AMR between 2025 and 2050,” he warned.
“The conference will adopt the Abuja Compact on Antimicrobial Resistance which is now being shaped through consultations with member states to move the world from commitment to delivery,” Salako said.
Earlier in his remarks, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Dr. Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, said AMR is not only a human health challenge but also a threat to agriculture and food security, as inappropriate use of antimicrobials undermines disease control, compromises food safety and disrupts trade.
Also speaking, Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, said: “Resistance does not respect boundaries. It moves from people to animals, from farms to food, and through water, soil and waste systems. No single ministry can win this fight alone.”
He said the four ministries have committed to act as one government through a joint One Health coordination mechanism, deliver local action on responsible antimicrobial use, host an inclusive conference, and be accountable through public reporting and a tracker for the Abuja Compact.
Prof Pate clarified misconceptions around the US-Nigeria Health Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), describing it as a non-binding, non-secret framework anchored on Nigerian laws and policies, which allows a transition by 2030 for Nigeria to exit dependency on external health funding.
He said the US has supported HIV, TB and malaria programmes in Nigeria for 25 years, but following a shift in US policy in 2025, President Bola Tinubu approved a 6% increase in health budget as part of Nigeria’s commitment to invest over $3 billion additional funding in health before 2030.
“There’s nothing in that MoU that is inconsistent with our national policies and existing laws. Our sovereignty was safeguarded. The MoU is available under Freedom of Information,” he said.
Prof Pate urged Nigerians not to tear down the country for social media followers.
On the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the minister said Nigeria has put in place strong public health measures, including border surveillance, with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and Port Health Services on alert.
He disclosed that President Tinubu has set up an Ebola Task Force chaired by the Chief of Staff, adding that there is currently no evidence of any case in Nigeria.
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