In a move aimed at educating people in danger of Antimicrobial Resistance, students and medical professionals from across Kenya, gathered at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT)’s Sino-Africa Joint Research Centre on April 23, 2026 for the JKUMReC Youth AMR Summit. The two-day conference was organized by the Jomo Kenyatta University Medical Research Club.
In his welcoming address, JKUMReC Chairperson Simon Kiambati, called on students to prepare themselves to tackle AMR by coming up with research and campaigns, working with partners to go out to the community and becoming AMR champions and stewards.
He noted that animals are misused through veterinary health practices and pointed to climate change as a factor affecting birds and the wider agricultural environment, calling for online campaigns as part of the solution.
Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines, making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness, and death. It is one of the greatest threats to global health today.
Without effective antimicrobials, common infections such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, and foodborne diseases become life threatening. Surgeries, cancer treatment, and childbirth also become far more dangerous when antibiotics no longer work.
It is driven by the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials in humans, animals, and agriculture. When antibiotics are used carelessly in livestock and crop production, resistant strains develop and find their way into the wider environment, threatening both food systems and human health.
The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Christina Mwachari of KEMRI, who challenged the perception that AMR is a silent killer, arguing that it is very much visible in the rising cases of untreatable infections. She cited malaria, HIV, fungi, and bacteria as pathogens that are actively mutating and developing resistance to the medicines designed to fight them.
“Antimicrobial resistance is not a silent killer. Malaria, HIV, fungi, and bacteria are all mutating and fighting the medicines meant to treat them. We need healthcare rapid diagnosis as part of our response” she said.
Dr. Mwachari stressed that AMR is not confined to human medicine, further noting that animals are equally affected, with resistant strains emerging from the misuse of antimicrobials in livestock and spreading across the food chain, posing a direct threat to agricultural systems and public health.
Dr. Caroline Ngeno draw lessons from COVID-19, Mpox, and cholera to highlight the growing health vulnerabilities that come with ineffective treatment options. She stressed that diseases do not wait for systems to catch up, and that the consequences of inaction are already being felt across health facilities in Kenya and beyond.
She outlined a multi-prolonged approach to tackling AMR, calling for stronger surveillance systems, antimicrobial stewardship, regulatory and supply chain strengthening, pharmacy regulation, and sustained community awareness.
Pharmacists, she noted, play a critical role as, prescription without proper indication remains one of the key drivers of resistance. “You cannot respond to what you don’t know,” she told participants, highlighting the importance of monitoring resistance strains and improving hospital identification and reporting systems.
Ephraim Ndung’u, a first year JKUAT student, said the session on strengthening health systems stood out to him the most. Drawing on his experience as a paramedic, he noted that Kenya’s current health infrastructure has real limitations, lessons that COVID-19 exposed clearly. He said students can contribute to the AMR fight by staying curious, learning from professionals, and networking actively, adding that the response to AMR cannot be left to health systems alone.
Held under the theme Act Now, Protect Our Present, Secure Our Future, the summit brought together medical students from various institutions alongside experienced medical doctors and research professionals.
