Health experts have warned for years the implications of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Superbugs can complicate treatment of certain health conditions including cancer, asthma and arthritis, as well as possibly lead to the rise of more untreatable infections in the future.
U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Thomas Frieden said that conservative estimates suggest that about 2 million people get sick and 23,000 die per year because of antibiotic-resistant infections but these numbers could hopefully be curbed now that the White House has acknowledged the seriousness of the problem and stepped up to avert potential threats of antibiotic resistance.
On Thursday, President Barack Obama issued an executive order to establish an inter-agency task force that will develop a national strategy to combat the rising problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria with John Holdren, the President's senior advisor on science and technology issues, describing drug resistance as a serious problem that poses threats to health, economy and national security.
The task force, which was charged to submit its action plan to the President by Feb. 15 next year, will be chaired by the secretaries of the Department of Defense, the Health & Human Services and the Department of Agriculture.
The executive order also mandates the establishment of a Presidential Advisory Council composed of nongovernmental experts who will give advice and recommendations to ramp up surveillance of infection and treatment research, and come up with alternatives for antibiotics in agriculture. It also called for continued efforts to eradicate the use of antibiotics for spurring the faster growth of animals.
"The Federal Government will work domestically and internationally to detect, prevent, and control illness and death related to antibiotic-resistant infections by implementing measures that reduce the emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and help ensure the continued availability of effective therapeutics for the treatment of bacterial infections," states the President's order.
The administration also announced a $20 million bounty funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to spur the development of rapid tests that would allow healthcare professionals to identify highly resistant bacterial infections.
The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) also released a report on combatting antibiotic resistance on Thursday, which urged, among other recommendations, the federal government to double its budget for tracking and researching antibiotic resistance to $900 million annually and allot another $800 million per year to boost the commercial development of new antibiotics.
