From Overuse to Overhaul: 2025 Latin America Briefs on Community-Led AMR Policies

Introduction

Latin America, home to 650 million people and a biodiversity hotspot, faces a silent storm in 2025: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), fuelled by antibiotic overuse in healthcare and agriculture, threatens to overwhelm systems already strained by inequality and climate vulnerabilities. With 2.8 million AMR-attributable deaths globally in 2019—and Latin America bearing a disproportionate burden due to 30% unnecessary prescriptions—the region is pivoting from overuse to overhaul through community-led policies. Initiatives like ReAct Latin America's Empowered Communities and PAHO's ReLAVRA+ network are fostering grassroots dialogue, cross-sector collaboration, and equitable interventions, aiming to cut resistance 20–30% by 2030.

This series of 2025 briefs spotlights these efforts—from Central America's SICA strategy to Caribbean surveillance—highlighting how local voices are reshaping AMR governance. In a year when AMR rivals COVID's economic toll ($2 trillion globally), community-led overhaul isn't aspirational—it's essential. Let's amplify the voices driving change.

Brief 1: ReAct Latin America's Empowered Communities – Grassroots Dialogue for Stewardship

ReAct Latin America, in partnership with IDEC, launched its 2025 policy brief, emphasising collective action against AMR and expanding the Empowered Communities initiative to create dialogue spaces with governments and stakeholders. In Brazil and Mexico, community forums have engaged 5,000+ locals in antibiotic stewardship, reducing unnecessary use 15% in participating clinics through education on viral vs. bacterial infections.

Key Wins:

• Cross-Sector Ties: Farmers and doctors co-design farm hygiene protocols, cutting livestock antibiotics by 10%.
• Equity Focus: Indigenous groups in the Amazon lead herbal remedy trials, validating 20 traditional antimicrobials.
• 2026 Outlook: Scale to 10 countries, targeting a 50% reduction in community prescriptions.

Impact: 25% fewer resistant UTIs in pilot areas, saving $5M in treatments.

Brief 2: PAHO's ReLAVRA+ Network – Surveillance as Community Empowerment

The Pan American Health Organization's (PAHO) Latin American and Caribbean Network for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance (ReLAVRA+), active since 1996, evolved in 2025 to include community reporting via mobile apps, training 2,000 health workers in 20 countries. This overhaul shifts from top-down data to bottom-up insights, with locals flagging overuse hotspots like rural pharmacies.

Milestones:

• Real-Time Data: The App uploads 10,000+ samples/year, identifying a 15% rise in ESBL E. coli.
• Community Training: Workshops in Peru and Colombia empower midwives to prescribe judiciously, reducing C-section antibiotics by 12%.
• Equity Lens: Focus on underserved favelas, reducing gender disparities in access by 20%.

2026 Goal: Integrate AI for predictive modelling, averting 5,000 resistance cases.

Brief 3: Central America's SICA Strategy – Unified Regional Resistance Radar

The Central American Integration System (SICA) launched a 2025 unified AMR strategy, positioning the region as a leader in cross-border cooperation against bacterial pandemics. Community health brigades in El Salvador and Guatemala monitor farm runoff, linking it to human infections—cutting resistance genes in water by 18%.

Highlights:

• Border Surveillance: Shared labs track 5,000 samples, flagging 10% cross-border MRSA spikes.
• Local-Led Labs: Indigenous cooperatives test herbal antimicrobials, validating 15 for UTIs.
• Policy Sync: Harmonised bans on growth promoters, reducing poultry antibiotics by 25%.

Impact: 20% fewer hospital-acquired infections regionally.

Brief 4: Caribbean Joint Initiative – Prioritizing Practices for Island Resilience

The Caribbean's 2025 joint initiative, backed by PAHO and CARICOM, prioritises AMR policies through community research agendas and engages 1,500 stakeholders in Jamaica and Haiti. Focus: Island-specific threats like tourism-driven resistance.

Advances:

• Practice Overhaul: Beach cleanups reduce sewage runoff, lowering Vibrio resistance by 15%.
• Research Hubs: Community labs test real-world evidence (RWE) for stewardship, which is scarce in LATAM per the 2025 JAC-AMR study.
• Equity Agenda: Women's cooperatives lead UTI remedy trials, cutting gender gaps 25%.

2026 Vision: Regional fund for $50M in alternatives.

Brief 5: AMR Policy Accelerator's Advisory Board – Strategic Guidance for Equity

The AMR Policy Accelerator's 2025-2026 Advisory Board, announced November 10, unites LATAM leaders for strategic AMR guidance, focusing on low-income inequities. In Colombia and Argentina, board-backed community audits reduced hospital overuse by 12%.

Board Impacts:

• Social Determinants: Tackles poverty-driven access, cutting resistance 20% in favelas.
• Cross-Sector: Pharma-farmer pacts for 15% less farm use.
• Global Tie-In: Aligns with the UN's 2030 goals, amplifying the LATAM voice.

Challenges and the Overhaul Horizon

Challenges: Limited community settings (80% interventions healthcare-focused). Horizon: 2026's ReAct expansion to 10 countries for 30% stewardship gain.

Conclusion

2025's Latin America overhaul—from ReAct dialogues to SICA radars—turns overuse into empowerment. As ReAct affirms, "Collective action cures"—overhaul onwards.