Emeka Oguanuo and Christopher Bassey (Lead writers)
Nigeria will make history as the first African country to host the Global Interministerial Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), scheduled for June 29–30, 2026.
Announcing this milestone and inaugurating the Ministerial Advisory Planning Committee , comprising Nigeria’s three ministries, Health, Livestock Development, and Environment, under the leadership of the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, represents a collective commitment to ensure Africa’s priorities are fully represented.
The private sector, who is responsible for over 60% of healthcare services nationwide, need to be engaged in order to contribute to the long term success of the Nigeria’s One Health strategy.
The evolution of Nigeria’s AMR response
AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to the medicines intended to eliminate them, making infections harder to treat. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified AMR as a global health emergency, driven by misuse and overuse of antimicrobials in humans, animals, and agriculture. The World Bank also projects that AMR could cause over 10 million deaths annually by 2050, with low- and middle-income countries like Nigeria facing the greatest risk. In 2019 alone, over 64,000 deaths were linked to drug-resistant infections in Nigeria.
What makes AMR particularly dangerous is its silent spread. In Nigeria, studies found that antibiotics are often purchased without prescriptions from local pharmacies, creating ideal conditions for resistance to develop. A community poll by Nigeria Health Watch across Niger, Borno, Kano, Ebonyi, Cross River, and Lagos states in the six geopolitical zones revealed that nearly half of respondents keep antibiotics at home, over a third reuse leftover medication, and many share or buy medication without any laboratory testing. These everyday practices are fuelling a growing public health crisis.
Professor Iruka Okeke, a renowned Bacteriologist at the University of Ibadan College of Medicine once described Nigeria’s AMR journey as one of “struggle and resilience,” noting that “a decade ago, AMR was not a national priority. There was no surveillance system, and Nigeria had no national action plan in place — despite growing academic expertise.” This began to change in 2016 with new leadership at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCC) which mobilised stakeholders across One-Health sectors including the academia to develop Nigeria’s first National Action Plan on AMR. Within a year, Nigeria submitted a multisectoral strategy, moving from a blank spot on WHO’s AMR map to a country with genomic sequencing capacity for AMR surveillance
The National Action Plan on AMR 2.0 was launched last year, and builds on earlier efforts with a renewed focus on stewardship, surveillance, innovation, and governance. However, much of this progress has been driven by the public-sector led.
For true scale and sustainability, the private sector must be fully integrated into AMR efforts. At a recent workshop at WHXLagos2025 co-convened by Nigeria Health Watch, in collaboration with the NCDC, DRASA Health Trust, Ducit Blue Solutions and DrugStoc, the private sector signaled strong commitment to shifting the narrative. Prominent government and non-government stakeholders called for clearer roles, shared data protocols, and fair regulation to strengthen collaboration.
As a major healthcare provider, the private sector is central to Nigeria’s AMR challenges and must be part of the solution. Nigeria’s COVID-19 experience highlights a compelling example of the impact possible when the private sector is fully engaged.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Private Sector Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID), businesses pooled resources to support government efforts in scaling diagnostic capacity, treatment centres, public awareness, and real-time data systems. Building on this momentum, the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN) provides a unified voice for private hospitals, labs, pharmacies, and insurers, advocating for stronger integration into national health planning, offering significant potential to enable private sector participation in Nigeria’s AMR response.
Pathways to integrate the private sector
AMR is as much a risk to businesses as it is a public health crisis. At the WHXLagos2025 workshop, participants reinforced that antimicrobial stewardship is no longer optional, it is essential for health system resilience and business continuity. Treatment failures and rising costs are puting increasing pressure on private hospitals, insurers, and pharmaceutical manufacturers.
Momentum is building. Key stakeholders such as Niniola Williams, Managing Director, DRASA Health Trust and Dr. Thomas Ilupeju, Director of Pharmacy Practice at the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) highlighted that antimicrobial stewardship is now embedded in the training curricula for pharmacists and patent medicine vendors. This joint government-private effort has the potential to shape a culture of responsible prescribing culture beyond public institutions.
Image credit: Nigeria Health Watch
Yet, private providers remain underrepresented in AMR surveillance, creating data blind spots. As the NCDC Director General warned, “If you don’t involve the private sector, we’re just wasting our time.”
Dr. Chibuzo Opara, co-founder and CEO of DrugStoc noted that “within an hour, I can link my data to the national surveillance database. We just need proper protocols.” This presents a clear opportunity for integration, one that hinges on the establishment of protocol-driven data sharing, supported by secure digital tools.
Given that community pharmacies and clinics are often the first point of care, equipping them with decision-support tools and providing incentives for rational prescribing is essential to strengthening antimicrobial stewardship.
Building on these efforts, the partnership with the Ministry of Health to roll out coordinated wholesale centres across Kaduna, Anambra, Lagos, and Abia will help sanitise Nigeria’s drug distribution system and enable effective antibiotic tracking, emphasised Dr Tunde Sigbeku, Deputy Director at National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control.
Similarly, addressing the problem of substandard antimicrobials and improving access to rapid diagnostics requires both tighter regulation and support for local innovation. To achieve this, it is essential to align stakeholders across the pharmaceutical supply chain.
In the animal health sector, where antimicrobial use far exceeds human consumption, Dr. Sati Ngulukun, Head of Bacteriology, Parasitology and Virology Department, at the National Veterinary Research Institute, stressed the need for private sector investment in alternatives like probiotics and phage therapy, especially in rural communities.
Lastly, the private sector can play a critical role in shifting public perception around AMR, just as it did during COVID-19, when Nigeria’s telecommunications companies partnered with the NCDC to drive the national #TakeResponsibility campaign, providing Nigerians with health messaging through SMS.
Speaking on a panel session at the WHXLagos workshop, Estelle Mbadiwe, Managing Partner at Ducit Blue Solutions discussed how a similar approach could reframe AMR from a “silent pandemic” to a loud, visible crisis, making AMR “impossible to ignore.”
Nigeria’s moment to lead
As Dr Tochi Okwor, Director of Disease Control and Health Promotion at NCDC highlighted at WHXLagos2025, the 2026 Global Ministerial Conference on AMR will serve as a midterm milestone to assess progress towards the 2024 United Nations Political Declaration target of reducing AMR-related deaths by 10% by 2030.
To meet this target, Nigeria must institutionalise private sector engagement, not just as implementers, but as co-architects of strategy. This approach aligns with the African Union’s AMR priorities and WHO’s global research agenda to scale inclusive stewardship and strengthen surveillance systems. .
If Nigeria leads here, it will not just respond to AMR. It will once again redefine how strategic public-private collaboration can build stronger, more resilient health systems across Africa.