Making Progress on Combating Antibiotic Resistance

Making Progress on Combating Antibiotic Resistance

September 19, 2016

By: Sylvia Mathews Burwell, HHS Secretary

This week, Secretary Burwell is traveling to New York City to address the United Nations General Assembly at a High-Level Meeting focused on antibiotic resistance. It’s a chance to share the progress we’ve made in combatting resistance, the direction we’re headed, and how important global cooperation is to global health – all points that the Secretary highlights in her blog post below.
– Kevin Griffis, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs
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Most of modern medicine is possible because antibiotics gave us the power to fight common infections. Unfortunately, we’ve seen this tool’s power gradually diminish over time. Every year, at least 2 million people become infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and 23,000 die as a result.
To find a solution to this public health challenge, President Obama tasked HHS to work with our federal partners on a comprehensive, five-year National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (CARB).
To put this plan into action, the CARB Task Force, which includes the Departments of Defense and Agriculture, has been working to implement the National Action Plan for over a year now.  So I wanted to take this opportunity to share some of our progress.
READ MORE: Making Progress on Combating Antibiotic Resistance