Strains of tuberculosis that are resistant to antimicrobial drugs are prevalent around the world, and are a growing danger in our inner cities and among the homeless. If action is not urgently taken, we may soon return to the days when a simple case of food poisoning could prove deadly and a mere cut could become severely infected and cost a limb. The growing financial burden of antimicrobial resistance on the health care system is staggering. But the most potentially deadly of these threats is bioterrorism. We are a nation at risk.
Biological weapons are the massive new threats of the twenty-first century.
Anthrax could kill 10 million. Other deadly pathogens known to have been developed in biological warfare labs around the world could kill millions. Our legislation authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to respond swiftly and effectively to a public health emergency, and provides the Secretary with needed resources to mount a strong defense against whatever danger imperils the nation's health. The bill calls upon the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a national monitoring plan for dangerous infections resistant to antibiotics, and to work closely with state and local public health agencies to ensure that the peril is contained. It is also essential to educate patients and medical providers in the appropriate use of antibiotics.