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U.S. and European leaders meeting in Washington on Nov. 3 for a TransAtlantic summit on key issues agreed to include a new initiative to study antibiotic resistance.
In a joint declaration issued by White House and the EU, summit leaders agreed to "establish a transatlantic task force on urgent antimicrobial resistance issues focused on appropriate therapeutic use of antimicrobial drugs in the medical and veterinary communities, prevention of both healthcare- and community-associated drug-resistant infections, and strategies for improving the pipeline of new antimicrobial drugs, which could be better addressed by intensified cooperation between us."
The antibiotic resistance issue was among several other major topics addressed at the summit including climate change, nuclear proliferation, Middle East peace and development aid to address global hunger.
In a Nov. 6 press statement, the new US-EU task force was praised by medical professionals on both sides of the Atlantic.
"Antimicrobial resistance and the lack of new antimicrobial agents to effectively treat resistant infections are problems that no country can deal with alone—they threaten the very foundation of medical care," said Richard Whitley, MD, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). "Without effective antimicrobial drugs, modern medical treatments such as operations, transplants, intensive care, cancer treatment and care of premature babies will become very risky if not impossible." Dr. Whitley joined with Javier Garau, MD, president of European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) and Shelley A. Hearne, managing director of the Pew Health Group in welcoming the multi-country initiative. |
