African funding needed to thwart antimicrobial resistance

Southern Africa must invest more in strategies to stop antimicrobial resistance from arising and spreading, a Food and Agricultural Organization official has said.

Emmanuel Kabili, FAO officer responsible for antimicrobial resistance in the FAO Southern Africa Resilience Hub, made the comment at a press briefing in Cape Town on 6 February.

Many programmes on the continent are bankrolled by foreign funding, he said, and financial commitment from African governments has been low. “The challenge is to commit funds in national budgets.”