By Sylvester Moyo,

LabVoice Issue 02

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is not a future threat—it is a present-day public health and economic crisis. As pathogens increasingly resist treatment, common infections become harder to manage, mortality rises, and health systems face escalating costs. The most immediate, high-impact intervention available is to strengthen laboratory diagnostics and the surveillance systems they feed.

The burden is already stark. Globally, bacterial AMR was directly responsible for an estimated 1.27 million deaths in 2019 (Murray, Christopher J L et al., 2019). In the African region, AMR has been reported as a leading cause of death, exceeding the combined death toll of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria—yet it remains under-recognized in many settings because surveillance is still patchy and diagnostic coverage limited (African Union AMR Landmark Report, 2024).

When diagnostics are weak, governments are effectively flying blind. Laboratory-generated surveillance data is foundational for guiding infection prevention and control (IPC), detecting outbreaks, informing treatment guidelines and national formularies, and shaping national AMR strategies. In practical terms, surveillance helps decision-makers prioritize interventions and allocate scarce resources where they will reduce morbidity, mortality, and costs. The economic argument is equally compelling. The World Bank has estimated that AMR could drive up global healthcare costs to more than US$1 trillion per year by 2050, with substantial macroeconomic losses also projected. For African health systems already operating under resource constraints, diagnostics are not a discretionary expense—they are a cost-containment tool that enables early detection, targeted treatment, and prevention of expensive complications.

To translate technical data into sustained political and financial commitment, surveillance outputs must be communicated in ways that policymakers can readily interpret and act upon. This is where routine analysis and clear indicators matter. One example is the Drug Resistance Index (DRI), which helps summarize complex resistance patterns into a more accessible measure that can support tracking, benchmarking, and accountability.

The DRI has been advanced through work linked to the Fleming Fund’s Mapping Antimicrobial Resistance and Antimicrobial Use Partnership (MAAP), providing a continent-wide baseline of AMR and actionable insights to guide priority interventions.

Ultimately, diagnostics are the health system’s eyes and ears. Strong laboratory surveillance helps governments shift from reactive crisis management to proactive prevention. It enables timely detection and response to outbreaks and priority diseases, generates the AMR data needed to guide treatment and prevent transmission, and safeguards public health, economic stability, and system resilience. Delivering this requires sustained domestic financing by African Member States.