White House Releases Plan to Combat Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

The White House(WASHINGTON) — President Obama calls it one of the world’s most pressing public health crises, and on Friday, his administration is announcing a long-awaited plan to tackle it, releasing the first ever White House strategy to counter superbugs and antibiotic resistance.

The 63-page national action plan released Friday outlines steps to strengthen surveillance and spur the development of new antibiotics and tests. The new guidelines would also put increased pressure on the agriculture industry to reduce its use of antibiotics on farm animals, though critics say the plan is weak on industry enforcement.

There are parts of the aggressive effort that the administration can act on now, but to get the whole job done, the president says he needs Congress to step up.

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