Combating Antibiotic Resistance

In 1999, 10 federal agencies and departments, led by the Department of Health and Human Services, formed a task force to tackle the problem of antimicrobial resistance. Co-chaired by the Centers for Disease Control, the United States of America Food and Drug Administration, and the National Institutes of Health, the task force issued a plan of action in 2001. Task force agencies continue to accomplish the activities set forth in the plan. The success of the plan--known as the Public Health Action Plan to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance--depends on the cooperation of A lot of entities, such as state and local health agencies, universities, professional societies, pharmaceutical companies, health-care professionals, agricultural producers, and the public.

Antiboitic Resistant Disease is a serious problem.

All of these groups must work together if the antibiotic resistance problem is to be remedied, says Mark Goldberger, M.D., director of the United States of America Food and Drug Administration's office responsible for reviewing antibiotic drugs. "This is a very serious problem. We need to do two things: facilitate the development of new antimicrobial therapy while at the same time preserve the usefulness of current and new drugs.