The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) welcomes the release of the National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria (CARB). IDSA has worked tirelessly to address this public health crisis for over a decade, beginning with our 2004 Bad Bugs, No Drugs report. We are encouraged to see the President and other high level government leaders commit to implementing multipronged policy solutions to protect patients and public health from the dangers of antibiotic resistant infections. We greatly appreciate that many federal leaders as well as Congress have already taken important steps in the last several years to address resistance, and we look forward to building upon those efforts. This action plan marks the beginning of an important new phase of well-coordinated federal activity in this area, and now significant work must be undertaken and new investments must be made.
In order for this action plan to deliver the necessary results for patients and public health, Congress will need to appropriate new funding as proposed in the President's Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2016 to strengthen research, surveillance, data collection and other key activities. Further, the federal government must ensure the establishment of antibiotic stewardship programs in all healthcare facilities.
In addition, Congress and the Administration must enact new economic and regulatory incentives to stimulate the development of new antimicrobial drugs, diagnostics and vaccines. For example, the bipartisan Promise for Antibiotics and Therapeutics for Health (PATH) Act (S. 185), and a related provision in the House draft 21st Century Cures legislation would allow new antibiotics that treat a serious or life-threatening infection for which there is an unmet medical need to be studied in smaller, more rapid clinical trials - which is the only feasible way to develop urgently needed new drugs for deadly infections that occur in small numbers of patients who have few or no other treatment options. This approach has broad support in Congress and among stakeholders, was recommended by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), and is a relatively simple next step that Congress and the Administration can take right away to impact the problem of resistance.
We are hopeful that this National Action Plan will galvanize swift, coordinated action by the White House, relevant federal agencies, Congress and key non-government stakeholders.