National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria.

This National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic- Resistant Bacteria is a cross-sectoral policy document for the period of 2015-2020. The goals include: 1. Slow the emergence of resistant bacteria and prevent the spread of resistant infections; 2. Strengthen national One-Health surveillance efforts to combat resistance; 3. Advance development and use of rapid and innovative diagnostic tests for identification and characterization of resistant bacteria; 4. Accelerate basic and applied research and development for new antibiotics, other therapeutics, and vaccines; and 5. Improve international collaboration and capacities for antibiotic-resistance prevention, surveillance, control, and antibiotic research and development.
The National Action Plan outlines steps for implementing the National Strategy for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria and addressing the policy recommendations of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). By 2020, implementation of the National Action Plan will lead to major reductions in the incidence of urgent and serious threats, including carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and Clostridium difficile. Other significant outcomes of the National Action Plan include: improved antibiotic stewardship in healthcare settings, prevention of the spread of drug-resistant threats, elimination of the use of medically-important antibiotics for growth promotion in food animals, requirement of veterinary oversight for use of medically-important antibiotics in the feed or water of food-producing animals, and expanded surveillance for drug-resistant bacteria in humans and animals, creation of a regional public health laboratory network, establishment of a specimen repository and sequence database that can be accessed by industrial and academic researchers, development of new diagnostic tests through a national challenge, and development of two or more antibiotic drug candidates or non-traditional therapeutics for treatment of human disease; etc.