The White House has released a "National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria". This follows on the heels of "Executive Order 13676: Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria" which was issued by President Barack Obama on September 18, 2014, along with the "National Strategy for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria" presented by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).

The 63-page document addresses several key areas, including preventing spread of resistant infections, improving surveillance of resistant bacteria in both animals and people, development of better and more rapid tests to diagnose resistant infections sooner, development of new therapeutic options and vaccines to treat and prevent infections, and improving international collaboration on all these fronts. With the US being Canada’s biggest and closest trading partner, hopefully there will be a ripple effect that will result in some action on the Canadian side of the border as well.  It will be interesting to see how much actual "action" comes from it in any case, but it’s great to see the subject getting addressed at such a high level.