Govt Launches National Action Plan On AMR 2.0, Calls For Collective Action Amid Rising Antibiotic Misuse

The Government has launched the National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (NAP-AMR) 2.0 for 2025–29, warning that antimicrobial resistance poses a “major public health concern” and requires “urgent, collective action” across sectors.

Speaking at the launch event, Union Health Minister JP Nadda said the misuse and overuse of antibiotics had become “unfortunately common practice,” heightening the threat AMR poses to surgeries, cancer care, organ transplants and other critical medical interventions.

He noted that India’s efforts began with the constitution of the National Task Force on AMR Containment in 2010, followed by the first NAP-AMR in 2017.

The updated plan, he said, addresses gaps identified in the earlier version by strengthening inter-sectoral coordination, expanding private sector engagement, and ensuring accountability across ministries. Key strategies include awareness generation, education and training, expanding laboratory capacity, and enhancing infection control in healthcare facilities.

Nadda also stressed the need for regular stakeholder meetings to monitor progress and resolve implementation challenges promptly.

Principal Scientific Advisor Dr. A.K. Sood described NAP-AMR 2.0 as a timely and coherent roadmap, launched on the first day of the WHO’s World AMR Awareness Week (18–24 November). “AMR is like a pandemic affecting many countries, especially developing nations in Asia and Africa,” he said.

Dr. Sood highlighted several steps already taken by India, including Kerala and Gujarat’s decisions to ban over-the-counter sale of antibiotics and restrictions on certain antimicrobials and pesticides in agriculture.

He also pointed to the establishment of the India AMR Innovation Hub, which brings together national and international partners to foster new technologies and strengthen collaboration.

AMR has been identified globally as a health emergency with far-reaching socio-economic consequences. It delays treatment, increases health-care costs, and threatens the safety of routine medical procedures, with the potential to undo decades of progress in modern medicine.

The Health Ministry emphasised that AMR containment requires a One Health approach, integrating action by the human health, animal health, agriculture, and environmental sectors.

Development of NAP-AMR 2.0 involved extensive consultations since 2022 with ministries, research institutions, professional bodies, civil society organisations, and state departments. More than 20 ministries participated in high-level meetings led by NITI Aayog, each preparing sector-specific action plans with defined goals, timelines and budgets.

The updated plan includes mechanisms for coordination, monitoring, and cross-sector collaboration, and mandates that every stakeholder ministry prepare an implementation roadmap engaging private entities, industry groups, cooperatives, NGOs, and international partners.

Representatives from the Ministries of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Fisheries, Environment, Jal Shakti, AYUSH, Science and Technology, Chemicals and Fertilisers, Information and Broadcasting, and Education were present at the event.