May 27, 2008 - Premier Healthcare has asked the FDA to lead federal antimicrobial resistance surveillance, prevention and control, and research efforts by establishing research priorities with other key federal agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services including the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Premier’s Senior Manager, PR and Communications Alven M. Weil, MBA, sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach, M.D., regarding antimicrobial resistance. On behalf of its 2,000 nonprofit hospitals and healthcare sites nationwide allied in Premier, responded to an FDA request for comments on antimicrobial resistance. He wrote every effort should be made to eliminate preventable healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) by applying state-of the-art and evidence-based science. However, the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance creates additional barriers to these efforts. He suggested it is critically important that the federal government take a strong leadership role and coordinate its activities.
In the letter Premier strongly urges the FDA to lead at the federal level to strengthen federal antimicrobial resistance surveillance, prevention and control, and research efforts. Weil suggested the FDA and federal government establish research priorities with other key federal agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services including the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. He also suggested establishing research priorities with federal departments that also have a critical role to play in antimicrobial resistance, including the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Weil also asked the FDA to move forward immediately to implement the agency’s own recommendations on antimicrobial resistance as outlined in the December 2000 report by the FDA Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance.
For more information: www.premierinc.com/about/news