More than 5,000 people die in Ghana every year due to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), with an additional 23,000 deaths associated with drug-resistant infections.

According to health experts, AMR is increasingly becoming a “silent pandemic” in the country, with children under five at the greatest risk of severe illness and death.

A Regulatory Pharmacist at the Centre for Import and Export Control of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), Mr. Glover Asiedu Appiah; Senior Veterinary Officer at the National Food Safety Laboratory, Veterinary Services–Ghana (VSG), Dr. Benjamin Kissi Sasu; and Senior Research Scientist at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research–Water Research Institute (CSIR-WRI), Ms. Regina Ama Banu, disclosed this in an exclusive interview with the Ghanaian Times in Accra yesterday.

Speaking ahead of this year’s World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW), on the theme “Act Now: Protect Our Present, Secure Our Future,” the experts called for urgent and coordinated action under Ghana’s One Health approach, which recognises the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health in addressing the growing threat.

AMR occurs when germs that cause infections — such as bacteria, viruses, or parasites — stop responding to medicines meant to treat them.

This means common drugs like antibiotics become less effective, making normally treatable infections more difficult and sometimes impossible to cure. As a result, illnesses last longer, spread more easily, and may lead to severe complications or death.

Recent findings from a One-Health tricycle surveillance study show that several first-line antibiotics commonly used in Ghana are failing, with increasing resistance detected in samples taken from humans, animals, and the environment.

The study also found resistance to some second-line treatments, raising concerns about limited options for managing common bacterial infections among the population.

Mr. Appiah highlighted several practices fuelling AMR in the country, including self-medication, incomplete antibiotic courses, over-the-counter sale of antibiotics, over-prescription due to limited diagnostic testing, and poor sanitation, which increases infections and drives antibiotic use.

“It is largely about our behaviour in how we consume antibiotics. Someone may say they haven’t taken antibiotics for a year, so they want to ‘flush’ their system. Others stop taking their medicines once symptoms improve, making the surviving bacteria stronger and creating resistance,” he noted.

He advised the public to strictly adhere to antibiotic prescriptions and avoid misuse in order to protect their health.

Dr. Sasu stressed the urgent need to expand veterinary testing capacity in the country.

“We have only three animal laboratories in Ghana located in Tamale, Accra and Kumasi. This is not enough. We need at least one functional lab in every region so farmers can access microbiology and sensitivity testing to tackle the threat of AMR,” he said.

Ms. Banu urged Ghanaians to maintain proper sanitation, handwashing, and responsible waste disposal, noting that polluted drains, untreated wastewater, and heavy metals in the environment contribute to the spread of resistant microbes.

She called for stronger environmental surveillance, more wastewater treatment facilities, and nationwide behavioural change to protect the environment and reduce contamination.