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Stating that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an escalating threat to global health, Dr. K. Srinath Reddy, professor and Goodwill Ambassador of Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) for Public Health Partnerships, said on Friday (November 7, 2025) that AMR is now responsible for a million deaths a year across the world. He was delivering the 15th convocation address of Nitte (Deemed-to-be-University) at Deralakatte in Mangaluru. Dr. Reddy, a former Head of the Department of Cardiology, AIIMS, Delhi, said: “...AMR is now threatening lives everywhere in the world as doctors are losing one of the most powerful weapons they had to fight serious infections. This has happened in less than a century after their discovery...” “Over the next 25 years, AMR will kill 40 million people more than double the number that died in the first world war. The pipeline for discovery and development of new antibiotics has become very narrow...,” he added. Dr. Reddy said that treating illness alone is not enough there is a need to prevent disease through system-wide reforms and community engagement. “...Clinical advances alone are not sufficient; we must tackle public health determinants. When late diagnosis or delayed referrals prevent patients from receiving care, it is a systems failure. Public health must ensure functional health systems, adequate drug supply, coordinated teamwork, efficient operations essential even for the best clinicians...” Dr. Reddy said that India’s health burden has shifted from communicable and nutritional diseases to non-communicable ones. Yet, they are intertwined. “... Health cannot thrive on fragmented ‘islands of excellence.’ A sound, integrated system alone can ensure a healthy society,” he said. He said universities must create knowledge platforms that promote team science and enable translation of multi-disciplinary research into the discovery and deployment of problem solving, barrier breaking solutions. Dr. Reddy said that scientific research cannot be self-gratifying exercise. It must proceed further to identify barriers to societal progress and find solutions. “Science would be sterile if it lacks social purpose. Indeed, that is true of all streams of education. Elucidatory science must identify the nature and causes of problems which impede human progress. It must also find implementable solutions...” he said. M. S. Moodithaya, Vice-Chancellor of the university, said that 1,353 graduates from different disciplines received their degrees on the first day of the two-day convocation. N. Vinay Hegde, Chancellor of the university, M. Shantharam Shetty and Vishal Hegde, Pro-Chancellors were present.
