NCDC, Partners Launch Campaign to Check Antimicrobial Resistance
Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh (DRASA) Health Trust and the Centre for Infection Control and Patient Safety (CICaPS), University of Lagos, have flagged-off an initiative to translate antimicrobial resistance (AMR) messaging into indigenous languages in a bid to increase public understanding of the dangers posed by the health challenge.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when microorganisms like bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites evolve to withstand antimicrobial drugs, making infections harder to treat.
Due to its strange manifestations and the technique associated with the prevention, the public has not able to fully understand the dangers posed by antimicrobial resistance to human life.
Speaking during the launch of the SayAMR Language Hackathon campaign being undertaking NCDC in collaboration with the Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh (DRASA) Health Trust, the Centre for Infection Control and Patient Safety (CICaPS), University of Lagos, and the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU), NCDC Director General, Dr. Jide Idris, said the agency has embraced an innovative approach to public health protection that goes beyond conventional, purely biomedical knowledge.
He said there is a need for stronger youth involvement and the use of local languages in public health messaging to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR), one of Nigeria’s most serious health threats.
Idris said that such innovative concepts like the Language Hackathon campaign on AMR has proved to be very effective in driving better awareness and understanding of public health issues.
According to the DG, the agency is implementing the National Action Plan on AMR (2024–2028) anchored on prevention, stewardship, and communication under the One Health approach linking human, animal, and environmental health.
“This hackathon highlights the power of language in public health, because what we cannot say, we cannot fight,” he said, adding that Nigeria’s 500-plus languages are assets for reaching communities, he said.
World Health Organization Technical Officer for AMR and One Health, Dr. Chavan Laxmikant, said the misuse of antibiotics often occurs in communities where people demand them unnecessarily.
He disclosed that from available statistics, more than 60,000 Nigerians affected annually by AMR.
The WHO scribe however, expressed the hope that the hackathon competition will help communities understand what AMR is and their role in stopping it.
Head of Disease Prevention at NCDC and Chair of Nigeria’s AMR Coordinating Committee, Dr. Tochi Okwor, said that, “SayAMR Language Hackathon” is a creative initiative aimed at developing nationally accepted AMR terminologies in four major Nigerian languages – Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, and Pidgin English – to improve public understanding and grassroots communication on antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
She described SayAMR Language Hackathon as an initiative that brings together science, creativity and community to confront one of the most pressing health challenges of our time.
“It recognizes that prevention is only about medicines or policy, it is also about language. How we speak about AMR determine how people understand it and how they will act,” she said.
Also, the Head of the Infection Prevention and Control Programme at the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN), Mrs. Chidinma Ibe, said that community engagement and culturally tailored communication are critical to containing AMR.
Ibe said that translating scientific information into languages enhances the adoption of infection prevention practices at the grassroots level.
While expressing support for the hackathon competition, Secretary-General of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors, Prof. Haruna Andrew,
described language as a bridge between culture and education, saying the programme models collaboration between academia and public health.
On her part, Managing Director of DRASA Health Trust, Niniola Williams said the AMR hackathon initiative seeks to merge science, creativity, and community to address one of Nigeria’s most urgent health challenges.
She said, “In a country as linguistically rich as Nigeria with more than 500 languages spoken, “our words must reach every home, every market and every classroom.
Williams said that through the language Hackathon, Drasa hopes to unmask the technicalities around health challenge posed by anti-microbial resistance and to explain it in simple language forms that resonates with our communities.
She said she is optimistic that the outcome of the nationwide language hackathon will reshape the way the health campaign against AMR is being prosecuted in Nigeria with positive results.
