India’s Battle against Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)

Source: The post  “India’s Battle against Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)’’ has been created, based on “Fine-tune this signal to sharpen India’s AMR battle” published in “The Hindu” on 08th January 2026.

UPSC Syllabus: GS Paper-2- Governance

Context: Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) poses a serious threat to public health in India, with common infections such as pneumonia, urinary tract infections, typhoid, and bloodstream infections increasingly showing resistance to standard antibiotics. The Prime Minister’s reference to AMR in the December 2025 Mann Ki Baat broadcast marks a critical moment in India’s fight against this growing crisis.

Significance of the Prime Minister’s Intervention

1. First-of-its-Kind Mass Communication: Rarely has AMR been addressed directly by the head of government to the general public, giving the issue unprecedented visibility.
2. Use of National Evidence: The speech cited Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) data, lending scientific credibility to the message.
3. Focus on Irrational Antibiotic Use: It identified indiscriminate and self-medicated antibiotic consumption as the core driver of AMR in India.
4. Clear Behavioural Advisory: Citizens were urged to avoid over-the-counter antibiotics and self-prescription, particularly without medical advice.
5. Mainstreaming a Technical Issue: AMR was moved out of hospital corridors and policy discussions into everyday public awareness, linking personal behaviour to national health outcomes.
6. Potential to Shift Outcomes: By striking at the broadest population base, the intervention may influence AMR trends more effectively than earlier policy-only measures.

Why Awareness Alone Is Insufficient

1. Advanced Stage of AMR Spread: Experts describe AMR in India as a “hydra-headed” challenge, requiring multiple, coordinated interventions.
2. One Health Imperative: Human health, animal health, agriculture, water safety, and environmental contamination are deeply interconnected in the AMR pathway.
3. Structural Drivers Persist: Poor sanitation, unsafe drinking water, unregulated antibiotic sales, and agricultural antibiotic use continue to fuel resistance.

Critical Gaps in India’s AMR Surveillance System

1. Urban and Tertiary-Centric Surveillance: Most sentinel sites are located in medical colleges and urban tertiary hospitals, skewing national averages.
2. Exclusion of Non-Urban Centres: Community-level prevalence in rural and semi-urban areas remains largely undocumented.
3. Limited Site Coverage: Although NARS-Net has 60 laboratories, recent WHO-GLASS reporting relied on data from only 41 sites across 31 States/UTs.
4. Incomplete Pathogen Tracking: Surveillance focuses on nine priority bacterial pathogens, potentially missing emerging resistance patterns.
5. Absence of Private Sector Data: Private hospitals, which handle a large share of healthcare delivery, are mostly excluded, limiting representativeness.
6. Policy Blind Spots: Without comprehensive data, antibiotic stewardship and targeted interventions remain weak.

Way Forward

1. Expand Surveillance Footprint: Include primary and secondary care facilities, rural health centres, and private hospitals.
2. Strengthen One Health Surveillance: Integrate data from human health, veterinary sectors, food systems, and the environment.
3. Improve Data Quality and Timeliness: Standardise reporting and strengthen laboratory capacities across regions.
4. Enhance Regulatory Enforcement: Strictly monitor over-the-counter antibiotic sales and misuse in agriculture.
5. Invest in Research and Innovation: Support development of new antimicrobials, diagnostics, and vaccines, as recommended by the WHO Global Action Plan.
6. Sustain Public Communication: Continue high-level messaging to reinforce responsible antibiotic use.

Conclusion: The Prime Minister’s Mann Ki Baat reference to AMR represents a crucial turning point by transforming scientific warnings into a public call to action. However, for India to effectively combat AMR, awareness must be matched with a robust, decentralised, and inclusive surveillance system backed by a One Health approach and sustained political commitment.

Question: Discuss the significance of the Prime Minister’s reference to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in ‘Mann Ki Baat’. Examine why strengthening AMR surveillance remains critical for India’s public health response.