The plea for U.S. and global action comes in a statement -- published in the April 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases -- that outlines the dangers and recommends how to address what the World Health Organization (WHO) has identified as one of the three greatest threats to human health. Recent studies have shown there are few antibiotics in the development pipeline that would offer benefits over existing drugs. The existing drugs we do have available are in danger of becoming ineffective as bacteria increasingly develop resistance.

"Prior generations gave us the gift of antibiotics," said David Gilbert, MD, FIDSA, chair of IDSA's Antimicrobial Availability Task Force, which authored the IDSA statement. "Today, we have a moral obligation to ensure this global treasure is available for our children and future generations."

Solving the antibiotic pipeline problem will require the engagement of global political, scientific, medical, industry and policy leaders to determine the right combination of incentives necessary to drive innovation in this diminishing segment of the pharmaceutical market. The ultimate goal must be the creation of a sustainable research and development enterprise that can deliver new antibiotics on an on-going basis. Resistant organisms will continue to develop in perpetuity, so we must have a plan in place to replenish our arsenal of drugs into the foreseeable future.

"The lack of new antibiotics in the pipeline threatens to leave physicians around the world without the tools they need to effectively treat patients, which could change the practice of medicine as we know it," said IDSA President Richard Whitley, MD, FIDSA. "Advances that we now take for granted, such as surgery, cancer treatment, transplants, and the care of premature babies, could become impossible as our antibiotic options dwindle. If we can initiate a global commitment to achieve this 10 x '20 goal, we will take a giant step toward protecting and ensuring the health of patients worldwide."

Antimicrobial resistance has been a primary concern of IDSA's for many years. In 2004, the Society released "Bad Bugs, No Drugs, As Antibiotic Discovery Stagnates, A Public Health Crisis Brews," a report describing the antibiotic resistance crisis and detailing the factors driving drug makers out of the antibiotics market. The report is available at: www.idsociety.org/badbugsnodrugs.html

The Society has also worked with lawmakers to draft the Strategies to Address Antimicrobial Resistance (STAAR) Act, which provides important solutions to contain the spread of antimicrobial-resistant bad bugs. More information about the STAAR Act is available at: www.idsociety.org/STAARAct.htm

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