Get Smart About Antibiotics Week, 2016

Proclamation 9541 of November 10, 2016

Get Smart About Antibiotics Week, 2016

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Since their discovery nearly nine decades ago,
antibiotics have transformed the world of modern
medicine. They have been instrumental in combating
previously deadly or debilitating illnesses and have
saved countless lives. Yet the misuse of antibiotics
can pose risks to public health. As antibiotics have
become more commonly prescribed and misused in all
health care settings, bacteria have developed the
capability to resist them, which can undermine their
effectiveness. Get Smart About Antibiotics Week is an
important opportunity to highlight the need to use
antibiotics responsibly.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria cause tens of thousands
of deaths each year in the United States alone, and
millions of Americans contract antibiotic-resistant
illnesses that are difficult and expensive to treat. A
major factor contributing to the emergence of
antibiotic resistance is the inappropriate use of
antibiotics, which are among the most frequently
prescribed medicines and are also given to animals that
are used for food. When a person takes antibiotics for
a bacterial infection, bacteria sensitive to that
medicine are generally destroyed or prevented from
growing further--but bacteria that are resistant to
that antibiotic will multiply, making current or future
bacterial infections even worse and harder to treat.
When antibiotics are used inappropriately, including
when they are not needed--such as for treating viral
infections like the common cold, or used in wrong doses
or for the wrong period of time--the likelihood of
antibiotic resistance is greatly increased, reducing
the effectiveness of these antibiotics in the future.
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria and infections cost our
country tens of billions of dollars in health care
expenses, but more importantly, if we lose effective
antibiotic options for treating people, more patients
will be put at risk--unless we act now.

That is why my Administration has taken action to
reduce the emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant
bacteria and help ensure the continued availability of
effective therapeutics for the treatment of bacterial
infections. In 2014, I signed an Executive Order that
created the Task Force for Combating Antibiotic-
Resistant Bacteria, established an interagency approach
to improve our Nation's antibiotic use, and built a
framework to strengthen surveillance systems so
important data on antibiotic-resistant bacteria can
more easily be shared and tracked to prevent and
control infections. We also launched the National
Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant
Bacteria, through which we are working to slow the
emergence of resistant bacteria and accelerate research
efforts to develop alternative treatments, diagnostic
tools, and vaccines. Last year, with recognition that
our public health is connected to the health of animals
and the environment, especially with regards to the
spread of disease, we hosted the White House Forum on
Antibiotic Stewardship to bring together key human and
animal health stakeholders to identify successful
strategies and opportunities for collaboration. We must
continue working with food producers, health care
providers, leaders in the private sector, and the
American people to improve our antibiotic use.

With a sustained commitment to promoting the
appropriate use of antibiotics, we can address this
growing public health problem. In September, the United
Nations General Assembly pledged their commitment to
international cooperation to combat this global threat
to human health, development, and security, and heads
of states came together to commit to initiating,
increasing, and sustaining awareness of antimicrobial
resistance. This week, we resolve to improve awareness
of the threat of antibiotic resistance to our public
health, and we encourage medical professionals to
prescribe, and patients to use, antibiotics
responsibly. Let us ensure that future generations can
access safe and effective antibiotics, and together let
us address the harmful effects of antibiotic
resistance.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim November 13 through
November 19, 2016, as Get Smart About Antibiotics Week.
I call upon the scientific community, medical
professionals, educators, businesses, industry leaders,
and all Americans to observe this week by promoting the
responsible use of antibiotics and raising awareness of
the dangers inherent in their misuse and overuse.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
tenth day of November, in the year of our Lord two
thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and forty-first.