- Protect our present, secure our future
Each November, the World Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Awareness Week (WAAW) reminds us that the antimicrobials protecting human, animal, and plant health are losing efficacy at an alarming rate and brings global attention to the urgent threat posed by AMR.
This year’s campaign will be observed from Tuesday (18) to 24 November under the theme, ‘Act Now: Protect Our Present, Secure Our Future’. This theme underscores the critical need for coordinated one health action across sectors to protect medicines that sustain health, food systems, and trade.
The global AMR crisis: numbers that demand action
The epidemiological reality is stark: drug-resistant infections contributed to nearly five million deaths globally in 2019, with 1.27 million deaths directly attributable to AMR. Without urgent intervention, the World Bank (WB) projects that AMR could trigger $ 1 trillion in additional healthcare costs annually by 2030 and reduce global gross domestic product (GDP) by 1.1% to 3.8% by 2050. Needless to say, low- and middle-income countries will bear the disproportionate burden of this crisis.
The agriculture sector plays a significant role in this dimension – over 70% of all antimicrobials sold globally are used in food-producing animals. In Asia, antimicrobial consumption in the livestock sector is projected to increase by 66% between 2010 and 2030 if stronger stewardship policies are not enforced. This overuse accelerates resistance that can spread through food chains, the environment and direct human-animal interfaces.
Recognising this danger, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (UN FAO), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) – together known as the Quadripartite Alliance – are leading the global response through the one health approach, which sees human, animal, and environmental health as inseparable.
SL’s one health framework: progress and priorities
Sri Lanka's National Strategic Plan for Combating AMR (2023-2028) represents a commendable policy framework integrating human health, the veterinary services, agriculture, and the environmental sectors. The Health Ministry deserves recognition for establishing robust hospital-based AMR surveillance through the National AMR Surveillance and Research Network, generating critical data on resistance patterns in clinical isolates.
The FAO, partnering with the Department of Animal Production and Health (DAPH) and the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, is strengthening the veterinary laboratory diagnostics and facilitating the establishment of Antimicrobial Consumption (AMC) surveillance in the livestock and aquaculture sectors. The National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) now monitors antimicrobial use in shrimp and fish farming operations - essential given aquaculture's growing contribution to national food security and export earnings.
However, significant gaps persist. Point-prevalence surveys indicate that antimicrobial usage data from private veterinary practices and smallholder farms remain fragmented. Pharmacovigilance systems for veterinary medicines require strengthening. Additionally, baseline data on the prevalence of AMR in food animals are limited, hindering the assessment of intervention effectiveness. Environmental surveillance for antimicrobial residues and resistance genes in agricultural runoffs, aquatic ecosystems, and soil is still in its early stages.
Pandemic fund: catalysing the one health capacity
The Pandemic Fund project in Sri Lanka, implemented jointly by the FAO, the WHO, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the WB and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) provides a strategic opportunity to address these gaps. The FAO's component focuses on strengthening AMR and zoonotic disease surveillance, enhancing the laboratory capacity for AMR detection, training field veterinarians in antimicrobial stewardship, and establishing integrated data platforms linking human, animal, and the environmental health sectors.
These interventions will directly support both public health protection and trade facilitation. Real-time surveillance enables the early detection of resistance patterns, enabling timely interventions. Enhanced laboratory capacity ensures that both domestic and export products comply with international safety standards, supporting market access and trade competitiveness. Capacity-building and training programmes embed responsible antimicrobial use practices at the national level, reduce selection pressure for resistance, and promote sustainable livestock and aquaculture practices. Collectively, these measures enhance the country’s preparedness and response to AMR threats while protecting human, animals, and environmental health.
Food trade: the economic imperative
Besides health, AMR has direct implications for Sri Lanka's agri-food trade. The European Union (EU), Japan, and other major markets have progressively tightened maximum residue limits (MRLs) for antimicrobial residues in imported food products. Non-compliance results in border rejections, market access restrictions, and reputational damage to national export sectors.
Sri Lanka's seafood exports, valued at approximately $ 250 million annually, face particular scrutiny. Tetracycline and quinolone residues in shrimp have triggered consignment rejections in the past. Similarly, poultry and dairy exports require verifiable antimicrobial stewardship programmes and residue testing protocols to maintain market access. The Netherlands’ 70% reduction in veterinary antimicrobial use through enhanced biosecurity, prescription-only policies, and surveillance demonstrates that production efficiency and trade competitiveness can align with AMR control. Thailand's 30% reduction in poultry and swine sectors through farmer training and veterinary oversight offers another replicable model.
Technical priorities for the path forward
Sri Lanka must prioritise several technical interventions: implementing prescription-only antimicrobial distribution in veterinary medicine; establishing withdrawal period compliance monitoring; expanding AMR surveillance to include commensal organisms and environmental samples; strengthening farmer education on biosecurity alternatives to preventative antimicrobial use; and developing economic incentives for antimicrobial-free production systems.
Equally important is regulatory harmonisation. Veterinary drug registration, import controls, and enforcement mechanisms require coordination across Ministries to prevent substandard and falsified antimicrobials from entering supply chains.
Conclusion: collective action for shared resources
Antimicrobials are finite common-pool resources. Their preservation requires treating AMR control not merely as a health intervention but as integral to food security, economic stability, and environmental sustainability. Sri Lanka has established strong foundations through its strategic plan and inter-Ministerial coordination. The challenge now is translating policy into measurable outcomes - reducing antimicrobial consumption intensity, documenting resistance trends, and maintaining market access for agricultural products.
With the 2025 campaign theme of ‘Act Now: Protect Our Present, Secure Our Future’, we are reminded that action cannot wait. By leveraging the Pandemic Fund investment and strengthening one health governance, Sri Lanka can demonstrate that middle-income countries can effectively combat AMR while sustaining agricultural productivity and trade competitiveness. The time to act is now – before resistance patterns become irreversible and treatment options vanish.
(The writer is the FAO Representative in Sri Lanka)
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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication