Scientists from Nigeria, Ghana, India, the Philippines, Colombia and the United Kingdom have raised a red flag over the world’s declining use of genomic surveillance capacity—especially in Africa—despite its proven power in tackling infectious diseases.
In a recent press statement made available to ASHENEWS, the experts warned that the genomic infrastructure rapidly developed during the COVID-19 pandemic is now being underused, even as antimicrobial resistance (AMR) escalates into one of the world’s deadliest health emergencies.
Their warning comes during the 2025 World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week (18–24 November), themed “Act Now: Protect Our Present, Secure Our Future.”
According to the scientists, Africa and Asia account for most of the estimated five million AMR-related deaths annually, yet nearly 90% of high-quality bacterial genomes used to track resistant pathogens still come from high-income countries. This leaves “dangerous blind spots” in regions that bear the highest burden.
During COVID-19, genomic sequencing gave African countries the ability to identify variants in real time and guide vaccine and diagnostic decisions. But researchers say this critical capability is now fading instead of being redirected toward fighting AMR.
“COVID-19 proved what genomic surveillance can do — track threats in real time, guide policy, and save lives,” wrote the authors of a new opinion article published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases on 21 November 2025. “Instead of redirecting this capability toward AMR… we are letting it slip away.”
Professor Iruka Okeke of the University of Ibadan said many hospital laboratories lack the resources to recover and test bacteria from patients — the material needed for sequencing. “Without testing, the right treatments cannot be selected,” she said.
Ghanaian sequencing expert Dr. Beverly Egyir added that too few clinical samples reach sequencing labs, leaving Africa without an accurate picture of the pathogens circulating across the continent.
A new real-time genomic tracking tool, amr.watch, launched this year by Oxford University’s Centre for Genomic Pathogen Surveillance, has already integrated more than 620,000 microbial genomes. However, data from Africa remains extremely thin, with only a handful of countries contributing meaningful volumes.
Professor David Aanensen, Director of the Centre, noted that “every genome shared publicly is a piece of the global AMR picture.”
Four urgent actions proposed
The scientists are urging coordinated global action in four key areas:
- Sustainable local investment to repurpose existing sequencing infrastructure for AMR surveillance.
- Global standardisation through harmonised genomic methods.
- Trust-based data sharing to ensure open access and proper credit for contributors.
- Addressing structural inequities that make genomic work disproportionately difficult and costly in Africa.
With growing experience in pathogen genomics and a heavy infectious disease burden, the experts say Africa is well-positioned to lead global efforts — if it acts swiftly.
“Africa has much of what it needs to be at the forefront of using genomics to stem the threat of AMR and secure our future,” they noted.
