Why antibiotics are failing: Nakuru moves to tackle antimicrobial resistance
Nakuru has launched the County Antimicrobial Stewardship Interagency Committee and a work plan aimed at coordinating efforts to combat antimicrobial resistance.
What you need to know:
- Nakuru has formed an interagency team to coordinate response against growing antimicrobial resistance across human, animal and environmental sectors.
- Experts warn that misuse of medicines and agrochemicals is accelerating drug resistance, threatening treatment outcomes and public health systems.
Most people do not finish their antibiotics. Many share them. Others buy them over the counter without a prescription. It is costing lives, and Nakuru County has decided it can no longer afford to wait.
Last week, the county launched the County Antimicrobial Stewardship Interagency Committee, known as Casic, along with a work plan to guide its response to the growing threat of drug-resistant infections.
Nakuru becomes the 23rd county in Kenya to inaugurate such a committee, bringing together stakeholders from human health, animal health, and environmental sectors under the One Health approach.
The work plan outlines a range of interventions: public awareness campaigns, research, surveillance, and training for farmers, health workers, and communities. It also seeks to promote the responsible use of medicines and adherence to safety guidelines in agriculture and food production.
Dr Lydia Momanyi, the county's AMR focal person for human health, says the formal launch gives the county something it previously lacked: official weight.
"The official inauguration gives it a rubber stamp, makes it have more weight when it comes to resource mobilisation and advocacy. It makes the work plan a usable document that can be used to obtain support in ensuring we implement all the activities," she says.
In plain terms, antimicrobial resistance happens when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites stop responding to medicines, making infections harder and far more expensive to treat.
Momanyi says the problem is largely driven by the misuse of drugs: people who do not complete prescribed doses, those who self-medicate, those who share antibiotics, and the widespread misuse of medicines in livestock production.
The consequences are severe. "When drugs are misused, the microorganisms adapt and become resistant. This means infections become harder and more expensive to treat, leading to longer hospital stays, which reduces productivity. Longer hospital stays will require that you use stronger second and third line medicines, which are more toxic and more expensive and, in some cases, death when the microorganism within the individual has resisted all the antibiotics we have in practice," she says.
The numbers are sobering. Kenya recorded about 8,500 deaths linked to antimicrobial resistance in 2019. Globally, the figure stood at roughly 1.2 million deaths in 2021. Momanyi says surveillance efforts are now underway to establish data specific to Nakuru County.
The Casic chairperson, Dr Michael Cheruiyot, who also serves as the county chief officer for livestock, fisheries, and veterinary services, says the problem does not stop at the clinic door. Agriculture and the environment are deeply implicated. He points to the widespread sale of agrochemicals and veterinary pharmaceuticals without prescription, warning that under-dosing and overdosing are accelerating resistance. Contamination of water bodies, including Lake Nakuru, is among his concerns.
"The health of people, animals and the environment is interconnected. We cannot have healthy communities if our animals are sick or our environment is polluted. What we have done today is put in place measures to combat AMR, as 75 per cent of zoonotic diseases come from animals," he says. He urges farmers to be properly trained in the handling and disposal of chemicals and animal medication, and warns against quack practitioners in human, crop, and animal medicine.
For Solomon Mwaniki, the Amref project manager in the Primary Healthcare programme, the launch marks the end of a long process of stakeholder engagement, and the beginning of something more concrete. He warns that AMR remains dangerously underreported despite its scale, noting that AMR-related deaths globally now surpass those caused by malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV combined.
"Nakuru is now among counties that have institutionalised Casic as both a governance organ and a framework. This positions the county to coordinate actors and implement targeted interventions. We call upon the county governments, through Casic, to move forward and ensure AMR is amplified and advocacy efforts are done in a participatory approach from all stakeholders," he says.
Residents have been urged to avoid self-medication, follow prescriptions to the end, and practise basic hygiene such as handwashing to reduce the spread of infections. Small habits, the experts say, can make a big difference.
