The Ministry of Health is advocating for a one-health system approach in addressing Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) seen as an emerging major public health concern in the face of scant data.

According to Health Cabinet Secretary, Susan Nakhumicha, Kenya is already experiencing increasing levels of antimicrobial resistance, but due to a lack of systematic surveillance, the exact burden of AMR in Kenya is unknown.

“Reliable data is the bedrock upon which effective strategies are built, and by leveraging on data we can identify hotspots of resistance, and be able to track emerging threats and access the impact of our interventions,” CS Nakhumicha said, even as acting director general of Health, Dr Patrick Amoth revealed that existing data on AMR is mostly available at the national referral health facilities.

“Lack of data is one of the challenges that we are dealing with, and that calls for capacity building in order to generate our own data to be able to design our own interventions,” he said.

However, he noted that at the global level as captured in the Lancet Report of 2019, the deaths that are attributable to AMR stand at 4.5 million, while those that are directly response to AMR, is close to 1.3 million.