Celebrating World AMR Week 20205: How GenPath Africa is using genomic sequencing to fight drug-resistant TB

Every year from 18-24 November, the World Health Organization (WHO) marks World Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Awareness Week, a global campaign to raise awareness of one of the most urgent public health challenges of our time. This year’s theme, “Act Now: Protect Our Present, Secure Our Future,” highlights the need for collective action to tackle AMR before it undermines decades of medical progress.

Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria no longer respond to medicines. As a result, diseases and infections become increasingly difficult or impossible to treat. One of the clearest examples of this growing threat is tuberculosis (TB): Although TB is considered a preventable and curable disease, it remains the world’s leading infectious killer, claiming over a million lives each year. The rise of drug-resistant TB – particularly rifampicin-resistant TB – presents a major challenge to controlling the spread of the disease, as standard treatments fail and alternative therapies are often more complex and less effective.

The GenPath Africa project seeks to address this problem through the Precision Action for Rifampicin-Resistant TB (PARR-TB) study, at the centre of the project’s Work Package 2. The initiative brings together researchers from the University of Antwerp and Stellenbosch University, who will explore how next-generation sequencing (NGS) can optimise the detection and treatment of rifampicin-resistant TB in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.

In a new interview, study co-leads Prof. Annelies van Rie (University of Antwerp) and Prof. Rob Warren (Stellenbosch University) discuss how genomic sequencing could transform the fight against drug-resistant TB by offering faster diagnoses, more personalised treatments, and help us stay one step ahead of one of the world's deadliest diseases.

Watch the interview below: