By Orlando Pulido (Freelance Writer)
SANTA ELENA TOWN, Cayo District, Mon. Nov. 24, 2025
Belize joined countries worldwide from 18 to 24 November in observing World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week (WAAW), an initiative led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). The campaign’s theme for 2025, “Act Now: Protect Our Present, Secure Our Future,” emphasizes the urgent need to safeguard antibiotics and other antimicrobials for future generations.
According to the World Health Organization, Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial agents. As a result of drug resistance, antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents become ineffective, and infections become difficult or impossible to treat, increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness, and death.
“Belize is strengthening its capacity to prevent AMR,” said Ana Ge La Garza, technical advisor of Communicable Diseases at the Pan American Health Organization PAHO.
Belize’s new Health Sector Strategic Plan 2025–2034, crafted with support from PAHO, puts the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR) at the center of efforts to strengthen the nation’s healthcare system. That priority reflects a global reality: AMR is already responsible for 1.27 million deaths worldwide. At the 2024 United Nations General Assembly high-level meeting on AMR, member states pledged to reduce deaths by 10% compared to the 2019 baseline (from 4.95 to 4.45 million) by 2030. Yet, experts warn that without concerted action, the toll could climb to 5.5 million if current trends continue.
Belize continues to play its part in the global fight against antimicrobial resistance, contributing antibiotic data each year to the international surveillance system. In 2021, out of 204 countries, Belize ranked 96th for age-standardized mortality linked to AMR.
Ana Ge La Garza further explained that “AMR affects animals and the environment because this is under the one health approach, which is that human health, animal health, and environmental health are all interconnected.”
By their very nature, bacteria can exchange genes with one another, a process known as horizontal gene transfer. That genetic exchange spreads traits that make them harder to kill, a phenomenon highlighted in Laurie Garrett’s The Coming Plague (1994). In Belize, where antibiotics are widely used in both healthcare and agriculture, this swapping means resistant bacteria don’t stay confined to one place—they move, multiply, and threaten wider communities.
The development of antibiotic resistance is not a newly found fact. While antibiotics revolutionized medicine, resistant strains of bacteria have consistently emerged against these wonder drugs. Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928, and before its widespread therapeutic use, bacterial penicillinase was identified in 1940. This demonstrated that once an antibiotic was used broadly, resistant strains capable of inactivating the drug appeared more frequently. Similarly, when streptomycin was introduced in 1944 to treat tuberculosis, mutant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis soon emerged during patient therapy.
People can help combat antibiotic resistance by using antibiotics only when prescribed by a qualified health professional. Patients undergoing treatment should complete the full course, even if they begin to feel better. In addition, residents should never share antibiotics with others or use leftover prescriptions.
According to University of Washington data, over 40 lives have been lost each year since 1990 in Belize due to AMR, with most being under 5 years old. In 2021, there were an estimated 47 deaths attributable to AMR, with the largest number of deaths occurring among those 70 years and older. Among the deadliest pathogen-drug combinations in 2021 were Staphylococcus aureus resistant to methicillin, Acinetobacter baumannii resistant to carbapenems, and Streptococcus pneumoniae resistant to carbapenems.
Belize’s fight against antimicrobial resistance is part of a global effort to save lives. By using antibiotics responsibly and supporting the “One Health” approach, Belizeans can help protect medicines that safeguard future generations.
