Health
HEALTH experts in Nigeria are raising concerns over the growing threat of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), warning that the misuse and overuse of antibiotics are making common infections increasingly difficult, and in some cases impossible to treat.
They expressed concern in interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja, highlighting worsening treatment outcomes in hospitals across the country.
Medical professionals say antibiotics, once considered lifesaving drugs, were losing effectiveness as bacteria evolved resistance due to self-medication, incomplete treatment, fake drugs, and indiscriminate prescription practices.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says antimicrobial resistance is among the top global public health threats, with millions of lives at risk if urgent measures are not taken worldwide.
The doctors warned that illnesses once easily treated with antibiotics, including pneumonia, urinary tract infections, typhoid fever, and wound infections, were now becoming increasingly difficult to cure.
A consultant physician in Abuja, Dr Esther Ibrahim, said hospitals were beginning to record cases where commonly used antibiotics no longer respond to infections.
“We now see patients who have taken several antibiotics before coming to the hospital, and by the time they arrive, the bacteria have already become resistant,” she explained.
She added that many Nigerians still purchased antibiotics from pharmacies and roadside drug vendors without proper medical prescription, increasing the risk of resistance.
A community pharmacist, Mr Chinedu Okafor, said patients often demanded antibiotics for viral illnesses such as colds and flu, where the drugs were ineffective.
“People believe antibiotics can cure every sickness. That misuse is one of the biggest problems we face,” he said.
A medical doctor in the United Kingdom, Munir Abdulazeez, warned that antimicrobial resistance could severely affect surgeries, childbirth, and cancer treatment, where antibiotics were needed to prevent infections.
“Over here we doctors go through numerous researches and studies because some illnesses are worsened by patients with the excessive use of counterfeit and substandard drugs in some parts of the country,” he explained.
He added that poor infection prevention practices in healthcare facilities also contributed to the worsening situation.
“If antibiotics stop working completely, even simple infections could become deadly again,” Abdulazeez warned.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has repeatedly called for responsible antibiotic use and improved surveillance to curb rising drug resistance.
They also urged Nigerians to avoid self-medication and seek proper medical advice before taking antibiotics.
Experts say without urgent action, antimicrobial resistance could reverse decades of medical progress and place millions of lives at risk in the coming years.(NAN)
F.O
Tags: Antimicrobial Resistance