National Strategy to Fight Superbugs Released by the White House

The White House has released a comprehensive national strategy that identifies necessary action steps for key Federal departments and agencies to combat the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

The National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria was developed by the interagency Task Force for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria and outlines Federal activities over the next five years to enhance domestic and international capabilities in preventing and containing outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant infections, maintaining the efficacy of current and new antibiotics, and developing and deploying next-generation diagnostics, antibiotics, vaccines, and other therapeutics.

Goals of the Action Plan for collaborative action by the U.S. government, in partnership with foreign governments, individuals, and organizations include:

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.

By 2020, components of the plan aim to establish antimicrobial stewardship programs in all acute care hospitals and improved antimicrobial stewardship across all healthcare settings, reduce inappropriate antibiotic use by 50% in outpatient settings and by 20% in inpatient settings, and establish State Antibiotic Resistance (AR) Prevention (Protect) Programs in all 50 states to monitor regionally important multi-drug resistant organisms and provide feedback and technical assistance to health care facilities. Additionally, goals include routine reporting of antibiotic use and resistance data to National Health Safety Network (NHSN) by 95% of Medicare-eligible hospitals and Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs healthcare facilities.

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