By Kuda Pembere
Uncontrolled Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) has the potential to reverse decades of medical progress and increase the severity of infections once treatable, Health and Child Care Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora warned on Thursday.
Speaking at the opening of the Zimbabwe Antimicrobial Resistance Scientific Conference, Dr Mombeshora said AMR is more than a public health issue.
“Antimicrobial Resistance or AMR is more than a health concern. It is a developmental, agricultural and societal issue. If left unchecked, it could undo decades of progress in medicine and make common infections deadly once again,” he said.
Dr Mombeshora cited the World Health Organization’s 2025 Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use System Report (GLASS), which paints a grim picture.
“The World Health Organization’s 2025 Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use System Report gives us a stark warning. Based on over 23 million bacteriologically confirmed infections globally, gathered from more than 100 countries, 1 in 6 infections were resistant to antibiotics in 2023. This shows that resistance to life-saving antibiotics is widespread, critically high and increasing globally, compromising one of the foundations of modern medicine,” he said.
He added, “Here in Africa, the burden is even higher, driven by gaps in diagnostics, weak surveillance, and limited stewardship. The challenges faced by countries with weaker health systems like ours reflect the limited capacity to prevent, diagnose and treat infections.”
For Zimbabwe, Dr Mombeshora said data shows rising resistance in pathogens affecting both humans and animals. “Our own data show rising resistance among E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella, and Enterococcus species pathogens that affect both humans and animals,” he said.
To address the challenge, Zimbabwe is implementing its second National Action Plan on AMR. “In response, Zimbabwe launched our first National Action Plan on AMR in 2017, and our second plan (2022–2026) is now under implementation. This plan embraces the One Health approach connecting human, animal, plant, and environmental health,” Dr Mombeshora said.
He outlined measures already taken. “We have expanded our laboratory networks to include One Health (7 Human Health, 5 Animal Health, 1 Food Laboratory and 1 Environment), improved infection prevention and control, animal husbandry, strengthened stewardship in our hospitals, and established multisectoral coordination mechanisms that unite ministries, research institutions, and communities. We are also working to include plant and aquaculture systems in the surveillance to ensure all sectors are covered,” he said.
Zimbabwe has also strengthened surveillance in line with WHO standards. “Zimbabwe now has a National Antimicrobial Coordinating Committee established to oversee, collate, and report surveillance data from all participating facilities. We have National Reference Laboratories, including the National Microbiology Reference Laboratory and National TB Reference Laboratory from the Human Health Sector, and the Central Veterinary Laboratory for Animal Health. These provide technical support and guidance to all microbiology laboratories in the national AMR surveillance network,” Dr Mombeshora said.
He added that reference laboratories are participating in external quality assurance schemes offered by EQuAfrica and performing antimicrobial susceptibility testing that complies with international benchmarks. “The country is now working towards establishment and implementation of a national Quality Assurance programme that allows all laboratories within the national AMR surveillance network to enroll in external quality assurance to guarantee the reliability and comparability of data generated across the country,” he said.
WHO Representative to Zimbabwe Dr Desta Tiruneh warned that AMR could devastate economies. “For decades, antimicrobials have been our trusted allies in combating infections, saving lives, and ensuring food security. However, the rise of drug-resistant infections is alarming. If we fail to act today, the consequences will be catastrophic not only in terms of lives lost but also in the economic toll on families, communities, and nations,” he said.
FAO Southern Africa Representative Patrice Talla Takoukam said AMR is also a major threat to the agrifood sector. “Antimicrobial resistance is not only a public health crisis, but also a crisis for transformation and resilience of the agrifood sector. The agrifood sector contributes significantly to AMR through the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials in livestock, aquaculture, and crop production. These practices accelerate the emergence of resistant pathogens that can spread to humans, animals, and the environment,” he said.
He added, “Conversely, AMR threatens the agrifood sector itself. Resistant infections in animals reduce productivity, increase mortality, and raise production costs. Farmers face economic losses, and food safety is compromised, affecting trade and consumer confidence. Ultimately, AMR undermines efforts to achieve food and nutrition security and a sustainable agrifood sector.”
Talla said FAO is working under the One Health approach to integrate AMR containment into food and agriculture policies due to the fact that safeguarding antimicrobials is essential for both public health and food system resilience.
