The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is under mounting pressure to reconvene the President’s Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (PACCARB), a key federal advisory group responsible for guiding national strategy against antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Originally scheduled to meet in January 2025 to develop recommendations for the next five-year National Action Plan, the meeting was abruptly canceled during the transition to the Trump-Vance Administration, with no new date announced.
Now, a coalition of 41 medical, veterinary, public health, and scientific organizations—including the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American Society for Microbiology, and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society—has formally urged HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to convene PACCARB without further delay. Their joint letter warns that inaction could severely impede national efforts to combat a problem that contributes to over 160,000 deaths annually in the United States.
A Critical Forum for a Complex Threat
Since its establishment in 2014, PACCARB has played a pivotal role in shaping the United States’ cross-sector response to AMR—an escalating public health and biosecurity challenge that endangers not only hospitals and clinics but also farms, food production, and environmental safety. Authorized by the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act of 2019, the council convenes experts from across human health, veterinary medicine, agriculture, and federal agencies to provide evidence-based recommendations to HHS and other executive agencies.
AMR is not a distant threat. Each year in the U.S., more than 2.8 million infections occur that are resistant to treatment with existing antibiotics. Without continued and coordinated countermeasures, surgeries, cancer treatments, organ transplants, and other routine medical procedures become increasingly dangerous. The longer PACCARB remains inactive, the more disjointed the federal response becomes—and the more vulnerable the country is to losing hard-won progress.
Accomplishments and Impact of PACCARB
Over the past decade, PACCARB has delivered a steady stream of strategic reports and recommendations that have shaped national and global AMR policy. Through regular public meetings, PACCARB has not only advised HHS but also provided private sector health systems, biotech firms, and researchers with critical guidance to inform their AMR response strategies.
Undermining Public Health with Politicized Cuts
The decision not to move forward with the January 2025 meeting—without explanation or rescheduling—coincides with sweeping and opaque cuts to federal scientific advisory groups instituted under the Trump-Vance Administration. Many such panels were terminated early in the year, despite their essential role in guiding health, safety, and science-based decision-making.
The cancelation of PACCARB’s meeting is especially concerning given the inexperience of Secretary Kennedy, whose appointment to lead HHS has been met with broad skepticism from the scientific and public health community. A prominent anti-vaccine activist with no formal background in health or science, Kennedy’s leadership has introduced instability at a time when strategic, evidence-driven planning is paramount.
Why This Matters for Every American
Antimicrobial resistance is not just a scientific or bureaucratic problem—it is a clear and present danger to the everyday health and security of Americans. When antibiotics stop working, everyday infections can become life-threatening. If we lose effective tools to prevent and treat bacterial infections, the ripple effects will be felt in every hospital, every farm, and every home. Delays in strategy development—especially one as central as the National Action Plan—put lives at risk.
Public confidence in the nation’s ability to respond to biological threats, whether from natural sources or deliberate attacks, also suffers when essential advisory bodies are sidelined. The erosion of this infrastructure, especially in a climate of disinformation and anti-science sentiment, represents a direct threat to national health security.
Rebuilding Momentum for AMR Response
The letter from the 41 organizations underscores a unified call for immediate action: reconvene PACCARB and allow it to complete its vital work on the 2025–2030 National Action Plan. The threat of AMR will not wait, and neither should our national response.
If HHS fails to act swiftly, the country risks not only losing its current momentum but also exacerbating the spread of resistant infections that already claim tens of thousands of lives each year.
Sources:
CIDRAP: Letter urges HHS to convene meeting of advisory group on antimicrobial resistance
American Society for Microbiology: ASM, IDSA, SHEA & PIDS Request PACCARB Meet Immediately