COVID-19 Advocacy & Public Safety Information
IDSA VALID ACT 2020
Strengthening Adult and Adolescent Immunization Coverage
While the United States has made significant progress toward eliminating vaccine-preventable diseases among children, similar successes have not yet occurred for adults and adolescents. Unacceptably low immunization rates exist among many adults and adolescents in the U.S. To combat this failure, IDSA developed a set of policy principles and recommendations to strengthen adult and adolescent immunizations, and we are working with federal and state partners to move these ideas forward.
Strengthening US Immunizations Programs and Vaccine Research and Development
IDSA is working to ensure that immunization programs are established, maintained and funded, and that research and development of new and improved vaccines continues. Immunization is one of the most effective ways to protect against infectious diseases. Vaccines have saved millions of lives worldwide and millions of dollars in unnecessary health care costs. Unfortunately, each year thousands of people still die of vaccine-preventable diseases.
Mandatory Immunization of Health Care Personnel Against Influenza and Other Infectious Diseases
IDSA supports universal immunization of health care workers (HCWs) against seasonal and 2009 H1N1 influenza by health care institutions (inpatient and outpatient) through mandatory vaccination programs as these programs are likely to be the most effective means to protect patients against the transmission of seasonal and H1N1 influenza by HCWs.
Antimicrobial Stewardship Podcast
Tune in to this 60-min podcast with IDSA member experts who define and develop stewardship programs in a variety of practice settings as they discuss changes on the national level to antimicrobial stewardship including CMS’s new Condition of Participation requirement and the CDC’s revised Core Elements.
Strengthening U.S. Efforts
IDSA supports legislative and administrative efforts to strengthen the U.S. response to antimicrobial resistance including through enhanced coordination and leadership, surveillance, prevention and control, and research efforts.
Antibiotic Development: The 10 x '20 Initiative
New antibiotics are desperately needed to save patients' lives, but few new drugs are in pharmaceutical companies' research and development (R&D) pipelines. IDSA is working to counter this decline through the 10 x '20 Initiative, which seeks a global commitment to create an antibiotic R&D enterprise powerful enough to produce 10 new systemic antibiotics by the year 2020.
Ending Non-Judicious Use of Antibiotics in Agriculture
Infectious diseases physicians, public health experts and others are greatly concerned about non-judicious uses of antibiotics in agriculture and particularly in food animals. A large and compelling body of scientific evidence demonstrates that antibiotic use in agriculture contributes to the emergence of resistant bacteria and their spread to humans.
Faces of Antimicrobial Resistance: The Human Cost of Antimicrobial Resistance
Many patients and their families have suffered the debilitating effects of antibiotic-resistant infections, and more and more patients are losing their lives due to these infections. These compelling and heart-wrenching stories engender a strong sense of urgency to address drug-resistant infections and the lack of new antibiotic development.