Obama Administration Acts to Combat Antibiotic-Resistant Infections

shironosov/iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — President Obama and his administration acted on Thursday in an effort to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

According to a White House fact sheet, Obama signed an Executive Order directing key agencies and departments to take action on the matter. The administration released its National Strategy on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Thursday, which includes a five-year plan for preventing and containing outbreaks of resistant infections.

Included in Obama’s Executive Order are the establishment of a new task force, establishment of the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, improvement over antibiotic stewardship, strengthened surveillance, promoted development of new and next-generation antibiotics and diagnostics and strengthened international cooperation.

The Departments of Health and Human Services, Defense and Veterans Affairs will be urged to review existing regulation governing antibiotic stewardship and more stringent regulation will be undertaken at office-based practices, outpatient settings, emergency departments and long-term care facilities. Additional federal agencies will be asked to engage the World Health Organization and its member states on a global action plan.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that antibiotic-resistant infections are associated with 23,000 deaths and two million illnesses in the U.S. each year. Those figures could cause an impact of up to $20 billion in direct health care costs and $35 billion in lost work productivity.

Obama also launched a $20 million prize, co-sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to promote the development of a, “rapid, point-of-care diagnostic test for healthcare providers to use to identify highly resistant bacterial infections.”

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