May 07, 2026
Have you read the Global Antibiotic Resistance Partnership (GARP)-India’s latest policy brief on how vaccines can be leveraged to control the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance in India?
In his Hindustan Times column, Vital Signs, OHT’s Dr. Ramanan Laxminarayan reveals the importance and timeliness of GARP-India’s latest brief.
Dr. Laxminarayan underlines that India faces one of the world’s highest burdens of drug-resistant infections, with hundreds of thousands of deaths linked to antibiotic resistance each year. While efforts to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use remain important, Dr. Laxminarayan argues that preventing infections through vaccination may be one of the most effective long-term solutions.
The article highlights how vaccines against diseases such as typhoid, pneumonia, and influenza can reduce infections and lower the need for antibiotics, slowing the spread of resistance. Despite major progress in childhood immunization, India has been slower to expand vaccines for high-risk populations and adults.
Dr. Laxminarayan notes that India already has the manufacturing capacity, infrastructure, and expertise needed to scale up vaccination efforts. He argues that vaccines should be viewed not only as child health tools but also as a key strategy in the global fight against AMR. “India’s path back from that edge runs directly through vaccines. India can deploy its existing manufacturing base, cold chain infrastructure, and immunisation workforce to tackle this challenge, but only if there is political will to treat vaccination not merely as a child health program, but as a core national strategy to tackle antibiotic resistance.”
Read Dr. Laxminarayan’s article here.
Download the GARP-India policy brief here.
