Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has emerged as one of the most pressing developmental challenges of our time — one that demands coordinated action across human, animal, and environmental sectors to protect the progress we have made and secure a healthier future. AMR occurs when microbes evolve to resist the medicines meant to destroy them. Although resistance is a natural process, the speed at which it is advancing today is driven by human practices: Inappropriate antimicrobial use, inadequate infection prevention, and widespread environmental contamination. The impact is alarming — infections once easily treatable are becoming harder, and sometimes impossible, to cure, leading to longer hospital stays, higher medical costs, and preventable deaths.
World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) commemorated from 18-24 November every year, serves as a timely reminder that combating AMR is essential to sustaining global health and development gains. The theme for WAAW’25 is Act Now: Protect Our Present, Secure Our Future. It calls for urgent, collective action from governments, health professionals, farmers, environmentalists, and citizens to preserve the effectiveness of life-saving medicines and safeguard the progress humanity has made over decades.
AMR: A Development Challenge Beyond Health
The consequences of AMR extend well beyond the health sector. Resistant infections not only increase the burden on health care systems but also slow economic growth and threaten food security. For developing countries, where agriculture and livestock are integral to livelihoods, rising resistance could reverse years of progress in poverty reduction and rural development.
Antimicrobial residues from human, animal, and agricultural use contaminate soil and water, entering the food chain through crops, vegetables, and livestock. The challenge of AMR is therefore not confined to hospitals or laboratories — it affects food systems, economies, trade, and the foundation of sustainable development. Without effective antimicrobials, routine medical procedures, livestock production, and even crop protection face growing risks, endangering decades of health, agricultural, and social progress. Addressing AMR is not only a scientific necessity but also a developmental imperative, demanding cooperation across sectors to protect our present and secure a healthier, more resilient future.
FAO’s Work on AMR Containment and Action
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has been at the forefront of addressing AMR through its AMR Action Plan 2021–2025, which provides a comprehensive roadmap for governments and partners to reduce the misuse of antimicrobials in animals, agriculture, and the environment. The plan advances five key objectives — enhancing awareness and understanding of AMR, strengthening surveillance and research, improving governance and institutional capacity, promoting good practices in food and agriculture to minimize the need for antimicrobials, and fostering sustainable investments and partnerships for long-term AMR containment.
In India, FAO has implemented targeted initiatives spanning human, animal, plant, and environmental health sectors under the One Health framework. Through the FAO Assessment Tool for Laboratories and AMR Surveillance Systems (FAO-ATLASS), it has strengthened national laboratory capacities, enabled standardized AMR surveillance and generated crucial harmonized data to develop and strengthen policies and action plans. It has fostered public–private partnerships to enhance private sector engagement across poultry, aquaculture, fisheries, dairy, and apiary value chains.
FAO India has further led awareness and advocacy initiatives to promote responsible antimicrobial use and strengthen cross-sectoral coordination among policymakers, veterinarians, health care professionals, farmers, students and private organizations. These include technical trainings, school and community outreach campaigns, and communication materials designed to make AMR messages accessible to all. By facilitating knowledge exchange and technical support, FAO helps translate One Health principles into practical, field-level action.
Together, these actions contribute to stronger national AMR governance, improved evidence-based decision-making, and more effective stewardship of antimicrobials across all sectors.
Government of India’s Leadership and Policy Initiatives
The Government of India has demonstrated strong leadership in addressing AMR through decisive policy actions and innovative state-led programs. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has banned the import, manufacture, sale, and use of chloramphenicol and nitrofuran antibiotics in all food-producing animals, following expert recommendations from the Drugs Consultative Committee and the Drugs Technical Advisory Board.
At the state level, pioneering initiatives such as Program for Removal of Unused Drugs (PROUD), which safely collects and disposes of expired and unused medicines, and Antimicrobial Resistance Intervention for Total Health (AMRITH), which enforces prescription-only antibiotic sales, have shown measurable impact. Implemented in Kerala, these programs have curbed antibiotic misuse and saved an estimated 1,200 crore in a single year, demonstrating that awareness and stewardship deliver both health and economic gains.
These national and state-level measures align with global efforts led by the Quadripartite (FAO, WHO, WOAH, and UNEP) to translate political commitments into tangible, accountable, and life-saving actions. Together, they reflect India’s strong commitment to combating AMR through coordinated, evidence-based, and sustainable approaches — anchored in the spirit of One Health.
Takayuki Hagiwara is the FAO Representative in India and a part of Team UN in India. The views expressed are personal
