New National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Lacks Essential Details

The federal government recently reinforced the importance of the fight against superbugs when it released an updated National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, but the guidance to agencies lacks details on specific policies and on ways to achieve key priorities.

The October update of the plan first published in 2015 calls for continued work in many essential areas, identified earlier by Pew and others, to fix the broken antibiotics market and promote antibiotic stewardship. The document highlights the need to implement policies that stimulate development of urgently needed drugs, strengthen the country’s capacity to track antibiotic resistance and use, and improve antibiotic use in humans and animals. Still, the 2020 update would have benefited from more specifics on the economics of essential antibiotic development and what steps should be taken.