Published on April 30, 2026

Understanding Antimicrobial Resistance: The Impact

By Alpana Pillai

In 2022, Antimicrobial Resistance was responsible for 9% of the total global deaths. This number is only expected to rise in the upcoming years. Regardless of AMR’s leading role in global deaths, the funding for antibiotic research and development is concerningly low. According to IFPMA, antibiotics are used sparingly to ‘preserve effectiveness’ yet this is creating a gap in public health, and hence increasing death rates.

Antimicrobial Resistance is a condition that causes more fatalities than malaria or HIV/AIDS, yet it often misses the headlines. To fully understand the gravity of AMR, it is crucial to comprehend its impact on a global and national scale.

Global Impact:

The complexity surrounding Antimicrobial Resistance stems from the fact that their impact is not solely on physical health. These conditions often also pose economic and social burdens.

Physical Health:

Resistant bacteria cause infections to persist, this leads to severe spread of illness and diseases. Due to these illnesses and diseases gaining a lack of treatment or improper treatment, they remain as a lifelong burden. Resistance from bacteria has caused treatment of chronic and common diseases to fail, leading to increased morbidity.

Economic Burden:

AMR acts as a silent risk to the global economy. The cost of healthcare treatment for AMR rises to the billions and hence creates an economic burden to many other countries among the following.

Social Impact:

AMR creates many societal problems as well, one of these issues being poverty. The World Bank predicts that by 2050, AMR would have pushed 28 million people into poverty. If a family’s wage earner is affected by resistant bacteria, the primary source of income is lost. Additionally medical costs can add to driving the family into debt. Furthermore, patients who face highly contagious resistant conditions are often faced with isolation, which can cause numerous mental health issues such as depression or anxiety.

While AMR related issues are persistent globally, India remains one of the core countries where AMR’s impact is most severe.

Impact on India:

India has one of the highest resistance rates, with 1 in 3 bacterial infections being resistant to antibiotics as of late 2025. These conditions have created a grave death toll in India. Over 300,000 deaths are directly attributed to AMR. Despite these factors, many in India use antibiotics without careful consideration and knowledge of their long-term risks.

Similar to the global statistics, AMR also poses economic and social issues within India. Studies and data have shown that 46.5% of patients have had to borrow money to get treatment for drug-resistent infections. This pushes individuals and families into debt and creates a cycle of poverty where individuals lose the ability to earn money yet have to consistently spend thousands of rupees for treatment. The economic risk is connected to the issue of individuals losing the ability to earn, creating productivity losses. Additionally, India faces serious economic burdens due to disease costs. For example, in 2023, antibiotic resistant typhoid alone created a disease cost of 12,300 crores. India having one of the highest resistance rates makes it bear one of the largest AMR burdens medically, economically and socially.

Antimicrobial Resistance contributes to numerous complications. The amount of deaths, costs and complex issues brought on by AMR are significant and are only predicted to rise in the upcoming years. With its large-scale impact, it's crucial to remember to combat AMR to the best of our abilities.

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