Nigeria depends heavily on antimicrobial medicines to treat infections such as malaria, tuberculosis, HIV related infections, bacterial diseases, and fungal infections.
For millions of people, these medicines are the difference between recovery and a serious health crisis. But the future effectiveness of these treatments is under threat.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is making some medicines less effective as microorganisms such as bacteria, parasites, and fungi adapt and survive treatments designed to eliminate them. As resistance grows, infections that were once easy to treat become more difficult, more expensive, and sometimes impossible to manage. For a country where many people already face barriers to healthcare access, the consequences could be severe.
This is not a future concern. It is already happening. Drug resistant infections are increasing globally, while the development of new antimicrobial medicines continues to move too slowly to replace those losing effectiveness. The World Health Organization estimates that bacterial antimicrobial resistance was associated with about 4.71 million deaths globally in 2021, including 1.14 million deaths directly linked to bacterial AMR.
Nigeria has seen this happen before. Chloroquine was once a widely used and effective malaria treatment, but as Plasmodium falciparum developed resistance, the medicine gradually lost its ability to reliably treat malaria. By 2005, Nigeria changed its malaria treatment policy to artemisinin-based combination therapies because chloroquine resistance had become a major challenge.
The lesson is clear: medicines can lose their power, but replacing them takes years of research and investment. A treatment that appears reliable today may not remain effective forever if scientific innovation does not continue.
Much of the global AMR response focuses on responsible antimicrobial use, infection prevention, vaccination, surveillance, and better diagnosis. These measures remain essential, but Nigeria must also pay attention to developing the medicines needed for future health challenges.
Drug discovery is a long and complex process. Scientists must identify weaknesses in disease causing organisms, discover promising compounds, test their safety and effectiveness, and advance suitable candidates towards becoming medicines. This work may not immediately help the patient in need today, but it determines whether future patients will have effective treatment options.
Nigeria has the scientific capacity to contribute to this effort. The country has pharmacists, clinicians, researchers, chemists, biologists, universities, and emerging drug discovery initiatives capable of supporting antimicrobial innovation. What is needed is sustained investment in laboratories, computational research, advanced equipment, biological testing, medicinal chemistry, and the training of scientists who can drive innovation.
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As a pharmacist and drug discovery researcher working in Nigeria, I have seen the importance of strengthening this capacity. Initiatives such as the Drug Discovery Innovation Hub are helping expand engagement with different stages of drug discovery, including identifying promising compounds and supporting research development. However, these efforts require stronger institutional support to achieve lasting impact.
A promising compound is not automatically a medicine. It must pass through years of scientific testing and development before reaching patients. But every medicine begins with researchers asking an important question: can we find a better way to treat disease? The medicines we have today matter. But whether Nigeria has effective medicines to rely on tomorrow will depend on what we choose to invest in today.
Rhoda Olatuyi is a pharmacist and drug discovery researcher. She is passionate about strengthening Nigeria’s research capacity through scientific collaboration, innovation, and investment in the development of safer and more effective medicines.
