February 8, 2023 (Washington, D.C.) The Partnership to Fight Infectious Disease (PFID) issued the following statement in response to President Biden’s State of the Union Address. With the public health emergency for COVID-19 set to expire in May, PFID remains committed to working with Congress to advance solutions that address looming health threats, like that of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). AMR was a threat long before COVID-19 and has only worsened in recent years, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“As the country continues to navigate forward from the COVID-19 pandemic, we must not lose sight of the public health emergency that remains a growing threat to all of us: antimicrobial resistance. AMR now kills more people globally each year than HIV/AIDS and malaria combined. Infection is also the second leading cause of death for the millions of cancer patients who stand to benefit from the Cancer Moonshot efforts. If President Biden is serious about the Cancer Moonshot, then he must also be serious about AMR.
“The prevention and treatment of infections is at the heart of our entire health care system, without addressing AMR there are countless health care initiatives that will flounder. Effective antimicrobial medicines are needed for everything from organ transplants to childbirth to cancer treatment to joint replacement and much more.
“The system that develops antibiotics and antifungals is broken, but there is a solution that has drawn broad support across Capitol Hill as well as with patients, infectious disease physicians, and other stakeholders. The PASTEUR Act is an area for bipartisan progress to address the myriad threats posed by AMR and build the infrastructure desperately needed to protect patients and our health care system for decades to come. It is our hope the administration will do its part to help move the bill forward this year.”
Learn more about the national and state by state human and economic toll of AMR at www.fightinfectiousdisease.org.
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The Partnership to Fight Infectious Disease is a group of patients, providers, community organizations, academic researchers, business and labor groups, and infectious disease experts working to raise awareness of threats posed by infectious disease, as well as advance solutions to ensure future pandemic preparedness.