March 2015
Today, the administration released the National Action Plan for Combatting Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, developed by the interagency Task Force for Combatting Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria. The plan outlines federal agency activities over the next five years to improve domestic and international capacity to prevent and control outbreaks of resistant infections and develop and implement new diagnostics, antibiotics, vaccines and other treatments.
The plan is coordinated around the following five goals for actions by federal agencies, in partnership with the other governments and organizations to:
- Slow the emergence of resistant bacteria and prevent the spread of resistant infections.
- Strengthen national one-health surveillance efforts to combat resistance,
- Advance development and use of rapid and innovative diagnostic tests for identification and characterization of resistant bacteria.
- Accelerate basic and applied research and development for new antibiotics, other therapeutics, and vaccines.
- Improve international collaboration and capacities for antibiotic resistance prevention, surveillance, control, and antibiotic research and development.
Under each of the five goals as listed above, the report lists specific outcomes that are expected to be achieved by 2020. For instance, outcomes under goal 1 include the creation of an antimicrobial stewardship programs in all acute care hospitals and the reduction of inappropriate antibiotic use by fifty percent in outpatient settings and by twenty percent in inpatient settings.
To address drug resistant tuberculosis (TB), the plan states that additional domestic and global activities will be provided in a companion action plan specific to TB which will be submitted to the President by September, 2015. This action plan will expand on recommendations by the Federal TB Task Force and USG TB Working Group.
The National Action Plan for Combatting Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria.
