HHS secretary urges ID to ‘make this moment into a movement’
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NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland — During a chat at the World Anti-Microbial Resistance Congress, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, addressed infectious disease experts and allies and told them not to “waste the moment” at hand.
“We're in a moment here because of COVID-19,” Becerra said. “You've got the attention of the world, and more importantly, you've got the attention of Congress. Perhaps the best thing of all, you've got the attention of the most important person in the world — the president of the United States.”
According to Becerra, who is the first HHS secretary to attend the World Anti-Microbial Resistance Congress, President Joe Biden’s upcoming budget contains funds specifically targeting infectious disease issues, including COVID-19 and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). He explained that, to date, more than $1 trillion has been spent fighting COVID-19, and with attention turned toward infectious diseases, the specialty has the allies and funding needed to make progress against AMR.
Infectious Diseases Society of America President Daniel P. McQuillen, MD, FIDSA, pressed the conversation further, asking Becerra for his thoughts on health equity and AMR, specifically, in terms strengthening public health infrastructure to address these issues.
“I think we're always going to have an equity issue here because the folks who died first are the folks who get the least attention, and therefore, it's not going to be top of mind for people who can make a difference,” Becerra said. “We're always just going to have to push this, and that's why I say ‘we're in a moment — take advantage,’” Becerra said.
He said if experts fail to “take advantage,” it will make it harder to try to put money into providing incentives to have manufacturers do what he knows they can do.
McQuillen added that public health experts have to stress the equity aspect of things on both sides, including among the actual infectious disease workforce, not just the patients. He said that is “crucial” and will go a long way toward accessing those communities in a way that they will respond to “because it's people like them.”
Most importantly, Becerra and McQuillen said the key is to not lose momentum.
“To each and every one of you who has worked on infectious diseases for a long time, who believes that we can — with very simple measures — [incentivize] the scientific community, but more importantly, the manufacturers of the type of medical countermeasures that we need to address infectious diseases, that you keep at it because we are in a great moment with money behind you to get something done,” Becerra said.
“Please, do not waste this moment. Let's make this moment into a movement,” he added.
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Becerra X. Fireside Chat. Presented at: World AMR Congress; Sept. 7-8, 2022; National Harbor, Maryland.
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