New Delhi, Nov. 12 -- India's top medical research agency is looking at ways to combat a silent but grave health crisis that kills over a million citizens every year, according to a World Health Organization report referencing 2019 data.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is designing a new priority pathogen testing framework to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR), according to a scientist familiar with the plan and documents reviewed by Mint.

AMR, which happens when microbes such as bacteria and viruses, among others, develop resistance to antibiotics and other powerful drugs. It is counted as a major public health crisis in India due to the high number of associated deaths.

ICMR's framework aims to standardise how hospit...