International Activities to Combat AR

Collaborating with Ministries of Health, CDC country offices, and implementing partners, CDC is providing technical assistance to partners in building AMR laboratory capacity, surveillance systems, and infection control capacity for countries to detect, track, and respond to antimicrobial resistance. Data from these surveillance systems will be used to target intervention strategies from the national to local level as well as develop and promote antibiotic stewardship programs.

Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (GLASS)

GLASS provides a standardized approach to the collection, analysis and sharing of data on antimicrobial resistance at a global level.

Infection Prevention and Control

CDC programs, in support of U.S. CARB [63 pages] and the Global Health Security Agenda, work with countries to help build capacity for infection control.  Capacities for infection control prevent the spread of drug resistant infections, along with many other infectious disease threats —such as Ebola, malaria, and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).
However, more work is needed worldwide. Sustainable infection control requires ongoing investments in healthcare infrastructure, staffing, and knowledge. Read more about CDC’s efforts to improve infection prevention globally [PDF -207 KB].

Optimize Use

Key driving factors behind drug resistance are the overuse and misuse of antibiotics.

Access to antibiotic drugs varies widely around the world.  Some countries rely on physician or pharmacist orders for antibiotics, in others, antibiotics are freely available over the counter or access is lacking.  Early efforts to improve antibiotic access and use have focused on the education of both doctors and patients. Strategies to measure antibiotic use, use vaccines to prevent infections that can promote antibiotic use, and better diagnostics to rapidly determine whether antibiotics are warranted all contribute to improved antibiotic use.

Learn more about CDC’s antibiotic stewardship programs.

Global Action on AMR

At the Sixty-eighth World Health Assembly in May 2015, the World Health Assembly endorsed a global action plan to tackle antimicrobial resistance, including antibiotic resistance, the most urgent drug resistance trend.

The global action plan sets out five strategic objectives:

• to improve awareness and understanding of antimicrobial resistance;
• to strengthen knowledge through surveillance and research;
• to reduce the incidence of infection;
• to optimize the use of antimicrobial agents; and
• develop the economic case for sustainable investment that takes account of the needs of all countries, and increase investment in new medicines, diagnostic tools, vaccines and other interventions.

Read the entire action plan here.

What CDC is Doing

CDC continues to combat antimicrobial resistance globally:

• CDC programs are engaged on the ground with partner governments around the world
  • Drug-Resistant TB
  • Antibiotic-Resistant Gonorrhea
  • Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Disease
• CDC is joining with other U.S. government agencies and global partners to advance the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA). CDC has multiple roles in shaping and executing GHSA through:
  • Coordination: CDC works closely with other parts of the U.S. government and partner nations to prevent epidemics, detect threats early, and respond rapidly and effectively.
  • Technical support: CDC uses existing investments and relationships in global health to deliver technical expertise and help partner nations meet global health security goals.
  • Read more about the GHS AMR Action Package here.
• The Transatlantic Taskforce on Antimicrobial Resistance (TATFAR) aims to improve cooperation between the U.S. and the EU on urgent antimicrobial resistance issues. Learn more about CDC and TATFAR here.
• CDC’s Antibiotic Resistance Solutions Initiative is part of a broader national strategy to combat antibiotic resistance and aims to facilitate action in every state, accelerate outbreak detection and prevention innovation, improve antibiotic use, and reduce antibiotic resistance. The initiative provides a comprehensive approach based on the National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria [63 pages](CARB).

National Action Plan to Combat Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (CARB)

The National Action Plan to Combat Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria emphasizes the importance of the U.S. government coordinating on AR internationally.  Goal 5 of the National Action Plan focuses on improving international collaboration and capacities for antibiotic-resistance prevention, surveillance, control, and antibiotic research development.  CDC is leading or involved in the following aspects of Goal 5.