Daily Times

Pakistan, recognizing the critical threat posed by Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), has taken a significant step forward in combating this silent pandemic. Today marks the launch of the policy brief titled “Addressing Antimicrobial Resistance in Pakistan,” presenting the findings and recommendations from a comprehensive surveillance pilot study conducted from July 2020 to December 2022.

AMR has emerged as a global health crisis, claiming five million lives annually worldwide, with an estimated 60,000 deaths occurring in Pakistan alone. Improper antimicrobial use in both human and animal sectors has fueled the rise of resistant microbes, posing a significant challenge to public health systems. Pakistan, as the world’s fifth most populous country with over 219 million livestock, bears a significant burden of AMR.

In response, the government formulated a National Action Plan (NAP) in 2017, with the aim of mitigating AMR in both animals and human sectors. Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFS&R) with the support of Fleming Fund Country Grant Pakistan, initiated a pilot surveillance study to establish AMR surveillance systems in healthy food animals. This study focused on enhancing epidemiological skills, sample processing, diagnostics, and data management, while estimating the prevalence of antibiotic resistance in selected bacteria within poultry and large ruminants (cattle and buffaloes).

Key findings from the study include:

• Extremely high resistance to various antibiotics in both cattle/buffalo and poultry isolates.

• Geographically elevated levels of resistance across all provinces of Pakistan.

• Seasonal variations in resistance patterns, highlighting the need for tailored interventions.

Despite technical challenges, the study underscores the importance of continuous collaboration, capacity-building, and sustainable funding to combat AMR effectively. Praising the efforts of DAI’s Fleming Funds project’s Dr. Muhammad Akram Animal Husbandry Commissioner MNFS&R said that AMR has emerged as a major health concern across the globe including Pakistan, resulting in an alarming increase in the burden of infections due to multi-drug resistant organisms, while limiting the choice of antimicrobials for treatment.

AMR results mortality and economic losses in animal’s sector. He appreciated the support of Fleming Fund for containment of AMR in low- and middle-income countries including Pakistan. Additionally, the Team Lead for The Fleming Funds Country Grant Pakistan, Dr. Qadeer Ahsan on the occasion explained salient achievements of FF project during Phase-1 from 2019 to 2023 and elaborated broad thematic areas of the project support during Phase-2 from 2024 to 2025 including production and analysis of quality AMR/ AMC and burden of disease data, sharing quality data with decision-makers and sustainability. He also said that it is high time we as practitioners realize the importance of this subject and make amends in correcting our course of veterinary practices and regulatory compliance.