Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his latest episode of ‘Mann ki Baat’, took note of an important, but often ignored, health concern — antimicrobial resistance. There is a growing threat of antimicrobial resistance in India, leading to difficulty in treating even the most common infections. Antimicrobial resistance is essentially the ability that pathogens gain to evade drugs meant to kill them and cause persistent infections. Dr Kamini Walia, who heads ICMR’s Antimicrobial Resistance Research and Surveillance Network, said, “The data has been documenting increasing levels of resistance and associated deaths — deaths that are not recorded by any system or notified. The survey also found that 57% of the antibiotics used were from the watch group — a group of antibiotics used in sicker patients that are more likely to lead to antimicrobial resistance.

Source: Indian Express January 01, 2026 10:39 UTC