Online Reporter
Health Reporter
A NEWLY-PUBLISHED continental study has revealed an alarming rise in drug-resistant infections across 14 African countries, including Zimbabwe, raising red flags over the region’s capacity to manage and contain hard-to-treat diseases.
The research, conducted under the Mapping Antimicrobial Resistance and Antimicrobial Use Partnership (MAAP), is the most comprehensive of its kind in Africa to date.
Spearheaded by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM), One Health Trust and regional partners, the study paints a stark picture of the silent epidemic of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatening public health and development across the continent.
The findings, drawn from over 187 000 test results from 205 laboratories between 2016 and 2019, show that drug resistance is rising rapidly.
Countries covered in the study included Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia, among others.
Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria evolve in ways that render antibiotics – the most critical infection-fighting tools – ineffective.
As a result, common infections become harder and more expensive to treat, leading to prolonged illness, hospital stays and higher mortality rates.
Researchers focused on three major bacteria responsible for serious infections: Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Klebsiella pneumoniae.
The study found particularly high resistance to third-generation cephalosporins – a powerful class of antibiotics – in Ghana and Malawi.
Equally worrying, more than half of Staphylococcus aureus samples tested in six countries were resistant to methicillin, an antibiotic widely used in hospitals.
In Ghana and Nigeria, resistance levels soared above 70 percent.
The study also identified vulnerable groups.
Older people, above 65 years, were 28 percent more likely to suffer from drug-resistant infections, while hospitalised patients had a 24 percent higher risk due to frequent antibiotic exposure.
Previous antibiotic use was also strongly linked to higher resistance levels.
The report also highlighted critical gaps that are hampering Africa’s fight against AMR.
Less than 2 percent of health facilities were found to have the capacity to test for bacterial infections, while only 12 percent of resistance records could be linked to individual patient data.
This lack of comprehensive data severely limited the ability of health systems to track, understand and effectively respond to the spread of resistance.
Africa CDC’s One Health Unit Lead, Dr Yewande Alimi, warned that without decisive action, the growing burden of drug resistance could erase decades of progress in health and development.
Africa CDC’s One Health Unit Lead, Dr Yewande Alimi
“For African countries, AMR remains a complex problem, leaving countries with a million-dollar question: ‘Where do we start from?’ This study brings to light groundbreaking AMR data for African countries. We must act now – and together – to address AMR,” she said.
Supported by the UK’s Fleming Fund and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the study called for urgent and sustained investment in laboratory infrastructure, routine testing, digital data systems, and national surveillance to counter the growing AMR threat.
In Zimbabwe, health authorities have acknowledged the AMR threat and efforts are underway to strengthen national laboratory services and data management.
However, the scale of the problem calls for multi-sectoral collaboration, consistent funding, and strong political will to prevent a post-antibiotic era where once-treatable infections become untreatable killers.
