The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, has described antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as a silent pandemic responsible for thousands of preventable deaths in Nigeria and more than one million deaths globally.
Pate disclosed this during a webinar on Tuesday, announcing that Nigeria would host the fifth Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance from December 6 to 8, 2026, in Abuja.
He said the conference would be the first to be held on African soil, with the theme, “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, underscoring the need for a coordinated response to the growing threat.
According to Pate, AMR occurs when bacteria and other disease-causing microorganisms develop resistance to medicines, making infections such as pneumonia and typhoid increasingly difficult to treat.
“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,” he said.
The minister stressed that tackling the problem required collaboration across the human health, livestock, agriculture, environment and water sectors.
He noted that antibiotic use in livestock production was a major concern, making it necessary to promote responsible antimicrobial use beyond hospitals and other human healthcare facilities.
Pate said the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare had, over the past two and a half years, implemented an antimicrobial stewardship programme in federal hospitals and established a clinical governance task force to reduce hospital-acquired infections.
He added that the ministry was collaborating with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria and the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria to ensure the availability of genuine medicines, curb indiscriminate drug sales and expand diagnostic capacity.
Speaking on the scale of the threat, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Salako, cited findings from the 2022 Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (GRAM) study published in The Lancet.
The study estimated that bacterial AMR was directly responsible for 1.27 million deaths worldwide in 2019, with Nigeria accounting for approximately 64,500 of those deaths.
Salako warned that the situation could worsen significantly without urgent intervention.
“Without action, more than 39 million deaths could be directly attributable to AMR between 2025 and 2050,” he said.
He disclosed that the conference would adopt the Abuja Compact on Antimicrobial Resistance, which is being developed through consultations with member states to translate international commitments into practical action.
“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, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Dr Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, said AMR posed a significant threat not only to human health but also to agriculture and food security.
He explained that the inappropriate use of antimicrobials undermined disease control, compromised food safety and disrupted trade, stressing the need for responsible practices across the agricultural value chain.
The Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, also called for a coordinated approach, noting that antimicrobial resistance spread across human, animal and environmental systems.
“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,” Lawal said.
He said the four ministries had committed to working together through a joint One Health coordination mechanism, promoting responsible antimicrobial use, organising an inclusive conference and ensuring accountability through public reporting and a tracking mechanism for the Abuja Compact.
US-Nigeria Health Agreement
Pate also addressed concerns surrounding the health memorandum of understanding between Nigeria and the United States, describing it as a non-binding and non-secret framework guided by Nigerian laws and policies.
He said the agreement provided for a transition by 2030 to enable Nigeria to reduce its dependence on external health funding and strengthen domestic financing for the sector.
According to the minister, the United States has supported Nigeria’s HIV, tuberculosis and malaria programmes for 25 years.
However, following a shift in US policy in 2025, he said President Bola Tinubu approved a six per cent increase in the health budget as part of Nigeria’s commitment to mobilise more than $3bn in additional health funding before 2030.
Pate maintained that the agreement did not undermine Nigeria’s sovereignty or conflict with existing national laws.
“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.
The minister urged Nigerians to avoid spreading misleading information about the country for social media attention, calling for responsible public engagement on national issues.
Ebola Preparedness
On the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pate said Nigeria had strengthened its public health preparedness, including border surveillance, to guard against the possible importation of the disease.
He said the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and Port Health Services were on alert as part of measures to monitor potential threats.
The minister further disclosed that President Tinubu had established an Ebola task force chaired by the Chief of Staff to coordinate the country’s response.
He, however, said there was currently no evidence of an Ebola case in Nigeria.
