Driven by the increasing awareness of antibiotic resistance and its link to food animal production and the ever growing demand for meat and poultry products raised without antibiotics, The Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming, in partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics, hosted a Supermoms Against Superbugs Advocacy Day on May 15, 2012 in Washington, D.C. to celebrate and unite individuals across America working to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics for their children and families.
Our selected "Supermoms" were chefs, pediatricians, farmers, and everyday moms who had a particular interest in this issue -- whether they raised food animals without the routine use of antibiotics, served meats raised without antibiotics in their restaurants and homes, worked on the front line treating increasingly antibiotic-resistant infections, or had personal stories of how antibiotic resistance had impacted their lives. The goal of this advocacy day was to shine a spotlight on these "Supermoms" and their personal connections to the issue as well as provide them with the tools and resources they needed to inform, educate and inspire millions more to take action.
Our lead Supermom is Everly Macario, founder of the MRSA Research Center at the University of Chicago and one of the first mothers to join Moms for Antibiotic Awareness.
"Eight years ago, my one-and-a-half-year-old son, Simon, died from an infection because the antibiotics we relied on had become useless," she said at a recent press event. "Simon's death sounded an alarm that my fellow moms across this country need to hear: antibiotics are increasingly ineffective against life-threatening infections, and the lives of our children and loved ones are at stake." "Using the tools that Moms for Antibiotics Awareness is giving me, I will tell the FDA, my elected representatives and the retailers where I buy meat and poultry that if they want my support as a taxpayer, a voter and a customer, they must take action to end the overuse of antibiotics on industrial farms. I hope other moms will do the same," said Dr. Macario.
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