Nigeria has recorded a major milestone in the global fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR), as its homegrown innovation, Com-WATCH, was named one of two winners of the 2025 Trinity Challenge.
Prof. Dame Sally Davies, UK Special Envoy on AMR and Executive Chair of the Trinity Challenge, announced the winners via webinar, highlighting their groundbreaking contributions to antibiotics access.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the global competition awarded a total of £1 million, with £500,000 going to Com-WATCH in Nigeria, and the same amount to the Paper Analytical Devices (PADs) project operating in five African countries.
NAN reports that AMR happens when germs like bacteria, viruses, and fungi stop responding to medicines, making infections harder to treat.
It is driven by misuse of antibiotics, overuse in humans and animals, and the spread of fake or poor-quality drugs.
In short: AMR means common infections could once again become deadly.
Davies commended the winners’ creativity, saying their solutions would “fill knowledge gaps and inform decision-makers.”
She added: “They show that everyone can make a difference and be part of the solution to the antibiotic emergency.”
Davies also warned that antimicrobial resistance could cause up to 39 million deaths worldwide in the next 25 years, with low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including Nigeria, likely to bear the greatest burden.
“Of the 7.75 million people who die of bacterial sepsis annually, nearly three million could be treated with simple antibiotics like penicillin or amoxicillin,” she said.
According to experts, many communities across Africa either can not access these medicines or fall victim to fake and substandard drugs.
Com-WATCH is an integrated, low-cost, data-driven technology designed to track antibiotic stock and detect falsified or substandard medicines in Nigerian communities.
The tool will be available to medicine vendors, community health workers, agro-veterinarians, and ordinary citizens, empowering them to flag suspicious drugs and contribute real-time data for public health decision-making.
Dr Yemisi Ogundare of Jhpiego Nigeria, the team lead, said during a virtual award ceremony “Our solution gives power back to the community.
“It allows people at the grassroots to generate data that informs decisions, helping to reduce antimicrobial resistance and improve the health of vulnerable Nigerians,” Ogundare said.
The second winner, PADs, led by Prof. Marya Lieberman of the University of Notre Dame, developed a paper-based test card that could screen for antibiotics within seven minutes using mobile technology.
Lieberman said that the project would expand to Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, and Namibia with its new funding.
NAN recalls that Nigeria is currently implementing its National Action Plan on AMR 2.0, now under review.
The plan identifies poor regulation of antibiotics, over-the-counter misuse, and the circulation of fake drugs as key drivers of resistance.
Stakeholders said that the problem extended beyond human health.
Experts warned that widespread antibiotic use in livestock and aquaculture also fuelled resistance, creating a One Health crisis that threatened food systems, the environment, and national health security.
Public health advocates said Com-WATCH could provide a vital surveillance tool to strengthen Nigeria’s response, reduce avoidable deaths, and build community trust in the healthcare system.
Meanwhile, the Trinity Challenge was launched in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting data-driven innovations against global health threats.
In 2021, it awarded 5.7 million pounds across eight initiatives on pandemic preparedness.
In 2024, it distributed 2.7 million pounds to four projects tackling antimicrobial resistance.
In 2025, the third edition received 171 applications from 51 countries, with Nigeria’s Com-WATCH emerging as a standout winner.
