AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH
Review Article
Jul 13, 2026 3 2

Antimicrobial Resistance and Health Equity: Disproportionate Public Health Impacts in Resource-Limited Settings

Aneke Emeka John 1 * ,
Funmilade Taiwo Adetola 2,
Oluwatomilayo Oluwayinka Fasesin 3,
Racheal Oghenenyerhovwo Edoh 4,
Fiyinfoluwa Peace Bamidele 5,
Fabiyi Taiwo Oluwole 6
1 Department of Community Medicine, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu, Nigeria2 Department of Medicine Faculty of Clinical Sciences, Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, Ogun State, Nigeria3 Public Health Pharmacy Unit, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria4 Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, Lily Hospital, Ughelli, Delta State, Nigeria5 Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria6 Bioinformatics Department, University of Maryland Global Campus, Adelphi, MD, USA* Corresponding Author
Australian Journal of Biomedical Research, 2(2), 2026, aubm023, https://doi.org/10.63946/aubiomed/18957
Publication date: Jul 13, 2026
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ABSTRACT

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the most pressing global public health threats, compromising the effectiveness of antimicrobial therapies and increasing the burden of infectious diseases worldwide. Although AMR affects all populations, its impacts are disproportionately concentrated in resource-limited settings where poverty, inadequate healthcare infrastructure, poor sanitation, and limited access to quality medicines increase vulnerability to resistant infections. This narrative review examines the relationship between AMR and health equity, highlighting how social and structural determinants shape exposure, susceptibility, and health outcomes among disadvantaged populations. Literature published between 2015 and 2026 was identified through searches of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar and synthesized using a thematic narrative approach. The review identifies poverty, inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure, low health literacy, weak healthcare systems, limited diagnostic capacity, workforce shortages, and insufficient surveillance systems as major contributors to AMR vulnerability. Women, children, rural populations, refugees, migrants, and displaced communities experience disproportionate burdens due to overlapping social and healthcare disadvantages. A One Health perspective further demonstrates how human, animal, and environmental factors interact to accelerate resistance transmission. Addressing AMR requires equity-centered strategies that strengthen primary healthcare, improve access to diagnostics and treatment, enhance surveillance systems, expand water and sanitation infrastructure, and promote community engagement. AMR is not merely a biological phenomenon but a manifestation of broader social and structural inequities requiring integrated and sustainable public health responses.

KEYWORDS

Antimicrobial Resistance Health Equity Global Health Low-Resource Settings Healthcare Access Health Disparities One Health

CITATION (Vancouver)

John AE, Adetola FT, Fasesin OO, Edoh RO, Bamidele FP, Oluwole FT. Antimicrobial Resistance and Health Equity: Disproportionate Public Health Impacts in Resource-Limited Settings. Australian Journal of Biomedical Research. 2026;2(2):aubm023. https://doi.org/10.63946/aubiomed/18957
APA
John, A. E., Adetola, F. T., Fasesin, O. O., Edoh, R. O., Bamidele, F. P., & Oluwole, F. T. (2026). Antimicrobial Resistance and Health Equity: Disproportionate Public Health Impacts in Resource-Limited Settings. Australian Journal of Biomedical Research, 2(2), aubm023. https://doi.org/10.63946/aubiomed/18957
Harvard
John, A. E., Adetola, F. T., Fasesin, O. O., Edoh, R. O., Bamidele, F. P., and Oluwole, F. T. (2026). Antimicrobial Resistance and Health Equity: Disproportionate Public Health Impacts in Resource-Limited Settings. Australian Journal of Biomedical Research, 2(2), aubm023. https://doi.org/10.63946/aubiomed/18957
AMA
John AE, Adetola FT, Fasesin OO, Edoh RO, Bamidele FP, Oluwole FT. Antimicrobial Resistance and Health Equity: Disproportionate Public Health Impacts in Resource-Limited Settings. Australian Journal of Biomedical Research. 2026;2(2), aubm023. https://doi.org/10.63946/aubiomed/18957
Chicago
John, Aneke Emeka, Funmilade Taiwo Adetola, Oluwatomilayo Oluwayinka Fasesin, Racheal Oghenenyerhovwo Edoh, Fiyinfoluwa Peace Bamidele, and Fabiyi Taiwo Oluwole. "Antimicrobial Resistance and Health Equity: Disproportionate Public Health Impacts in Resource-Limited Settings". Australian Journal of Biomedical Research 2026 2 no. 2 (2026): aubm023. https://doi.org/10.63946/aubiomed/18957
MLA
John, Aneke Emeka et al. "Antimicrobial Resistance and Health Equity: Disproportionate Public Health Impacts in Resource-Limited Settings". Australian Journal of Biomedical Research, vol. 2, no. 2, 2026, aubm023. https://doi.org/10.63946/aubiomed/18957

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