Antibiotics | The Pew Charitable Trusts

Antibiotics are one of the greatest success stories in modern medicine. Although we associate them with treating acute infections, these drugs underpin much of health care—from routine surgical procedures to organ transplants and cancer treatment. Unfortunately, the history of antibiotics is a race between innovation and resistance. As innovative science furnishes novel drugs, bacterial evolution can quickly render them ineffective.

Pew addresses the growing public health challenge of multidrug-resistant infections by supporting policies that encourage the development of antibiotics to treat life-threatening illnesses and that preserve the effectiveness of existing antibiotics by ensuring that they are used appropriately.

Our Work

MORE FROM PEW

A woman and her grandchildren on a sunny afternoon.

Courts Can Do More to Help Families Seeking Guardianship

Sunlight streams into the blue waters of a vibrant coral reef. Yellow, black and blue, and orange fish swim near red, green and bright coral.

To Save Biodiversity, Community Funds New Plan

Four yellow school buses emit smoke as they travel a road crowded with cars, construction vehicles, and scaffolding.

States Race to Win Federal Clean School Bus Grants

A photo illustration of an empty defendant’s chair, indicating that the person did not show for a virtual hearing, and the plaintiff’s lawyer sitting in a chair beside it. The one person faces forward toward an iPad with a gavel. The illustration has a blue background that shows the exterior of a courthouse.

Debt Collection Cases Continued to Dominate Civil Dockets