Pew Urges Congress to Address Antibiotic Resistance in Pandemic Preparedness Legislation

The Pew Charitable Trusts recently submitted comments to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce’s requests for information regarding ways to improve U.S. biosecurity and preparedness through the upcoming reauthorization of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA).

Pew urged the committees to include the bipartisan Pioneering Antimicrobial Subscriptions to End Upsurging Resistance (PASTEUR) Act as part of PAHPA reauthorization. Despite the vital need for antibiotics as part of virtually any pandemic or public health emergency response, the medicines the U.S. relies upon to treat serious infections have remained largely the same for nearly 40 years and are increasingly ineffective against quickly evolving bacteria. The PASTEUR Act supports both antibiotic development and stewardship to help ensure that lifesaving antibiotics are available when Americans need them most.