In September 2016, the United Nations held a special meeting to discuss the growing global issue of antibiotic resistance. This meeting was called in response to a recent report from the U.K. government that found that about 700,000 people currently die each year from antibiotic resistant infections. This report also indicated that if nothing is done to curb resistance, this number is expected to increase to 10 million by 2050, costing the world $100 trillion dollars and greatly affecting the global economy.

At this meeting, U.N. officials signed a declaration calling on member countries to develop a two-year action plan to reduce antibiotic resistance. You can learn more about this meeting and the call to reduce antibiotic resistance in the following two articles:

U.N. Leaders Plead for Immediate Action Against Superbugs (Scientific American): https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/u-n-leaders-plead-for-immediate-action-against-superbugs/?WT.mc_id=SA_HLTH_20160927 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

U.N. Pledges To Fight Antibiotic Resistance In Historic Agreement (NPR): http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/09/21/494914739/u-n-pledges-to-fight-antibiotic-resistance-in-historic-agreement (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Imagine that you are on the national committee tasked to create an action plan for the U.S. Based on what you know about antibiotic resistance, lay out an action plan that will effectively:

1) Decrease the use of antibiotics to promote growth in farm animals

2) Limit the use of antibiotics among humans to only when they are truly necessary

3) Disperse education about antibiotic resistance to the general public

Note: the above mentioned U.K. government report can be found at the following link: https://amr-review.org/sites/default/files/160525_Final%20paper_with%20cover.pdf (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.