New National Strategy for Antibiotic Resistance

The United States government proposed several important steps last week that, if accomplished, will significantly change how this country attempts to counter the advance of antibiotic resistance, bringing us within reach of the more complete programs which exist in Europe. But as significant as it is, the new program has some perplexing gaps that left experts attending to the issue disappointed.

What’s the problem? Exerting control over the misuse of antibiotics in animal production. This is significant, because agriculture uses more than three times as many antibiotics in the United States every year as people do — and the more antibiotics go out into the ecosystem, the more pressure is exerted on bacteria to mutate away from being susceptible to the drugs.

Read more:
White House Actions on Antibiotic Resistance: Big Steps, Plus Disappointments

Fact sheet:
Obama Administration Takes Actions to Combat Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

Strategy
National Strategy .pdf