'Antibiotic Resistance Is a Silent Pandemic, It Strikes Without Warning': Senior ICMR Scientist Dr Kamini Walia Talks About Battling AMR and Disease X

Even with increased awareness of the risks of antibiotic abuse, how many of you still believe or know someone who believes that the quickest way to cut an illness short, whether it’s a common cold, flu, or infection, is to take antibiotics? How often do you hear, "Don’t delay taking antibiotics; it will delay recovery," or know someone who stopped an antibiotic course midway because they started feeling better? Addressing the dangerous consequences of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), Dr. Kamini Walia, a senior scientist with ICMR and a dedicated expert in this field, shared her insights exclusively with us at the ET Now Business Conclave and Awards 2025 last night.

To help the audience understand, Dr. Kamini opened the discussion by breaking down AMR in the simplest terms. “Some 10 or 20 years ago, we used a different set of antibiotics. You might recall taking Septran for a sore throat, but now that medicine has disappeared because the bugs causing sore throats have become resistant to it. Many people take Norfloxacin for loose stools, but now it has also become ineffective in treating diarrheal infections. This is why we must use antimicrobials, whether antifungals or antibacterial medicines, with caution. The emergence of antimicrobial resistance is happening because of antimicrobial abuse. During COVID, we had no specific treatment, yet people were taking azithromycin, Monocef, and many other misused drugs.” Imagine a time when our bodies no longer respond to antimicrobials, leaving us with no treatment options!

She further adds, “The reason AMR is called a silent pandemic is because when someone gets TB, polio, or even COVID, the system is notified. But how many drug-resistant infections are reported? Almost none. People are dying from sepsis in hospitals due to drug-resistant infections. Despite working in the AMR space for the last 10 years, we still do not have a disease burden estimate.”

There is a lot of investment, time, and billions of dollars poured into discovering new drugs. Dr Kamini shares how in the last few years, India has introduced a few antibiotics, not only for the Indian market but also for global use, with some ongoing global trials. “Recently, the Department of Biotechnology, in collaboration with an Indian pharmaceutical company, launched Nefithromycin, a new drug for lung infections. So, while antibiotic discovery is still happening, the golden era, when discoveries were frequent is behind us, and fewer new drugs.

Another challenge is the delay in making antibiotics discovered in the West available to Indian patients. Furthermore, many of these drugs are ineffective against the specific resistance patterns seen in India, limiting their use. These factors contribute to the growing gap in effective treatment options.”

COVID was a global emergency, but India handled it well, says Dr Kamini. “The country’s diagnostic capacity improved significantly. Initially, communication was a challenge since little was known about the virus or treatment, but it improved over time. Eventually, there was widespread messaging on prevention. I personally know many people who never got COVID, and that will be the strategy moving forward. The government is investing in making diagnostics more accessible. At the same time, there needs to be greater community alertness. Social media often creates unnecessary hype, and we should only rely on facts instead. This is where effective communication plays a crucial role. Rapid digitization allowed real-time data availability, helping the government to make more informed decisions. Furthermore, the COVID program was directly monitored by the PMO and the Home Minister, with funds being made available. To combat a future pandemic, we will again need a high level of focus and we have learned that from COVID.

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