US task force will tackle growing threat of antibiotic resistance

The US government will set up a task force and presidential advisory council to tackle the growing threat of antibiotic resistance to national security, setting a February 15 deadline for the outlining of specific steps to be taken, White House advisers said at a press conference.

The White House announced the moves in an executive order charging the secretaries of Defence, Agriculture and Health and Human Services to establish the task force, which will advise on steps to preserve the effectiveness of the remaining medically important antibiotics available to treat humans.

“This has been a problem that has been brewing for decades,” Eric Lander, co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), which advised the White House on measures, said at a press conference on Thursday.