A new bill, the Developing an Innovative Strategy for Antimicrobial Resistant Microorganisms — DISARM — Act, introduced last week by Senators Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and Bob Casey (D-PA), represents an essential step toward addressing antimicrobial resistance.

Have you registered for IDWeek 2019 yet? Don’t miss out on what has been dubbed “spring break for ID doctors!"

Please take two minutes to click here and encourage your US Representatives and Senators to cosponsor the bipartisan VACCINES Act, a bill to study, track, and address vaccine hesitancy and barriers to vaccination with federally supported evidence-based responses.

IDSociety.org and HIVMA.org were both recently updated to improve site usability and appearance for our members and visitors. Since the launch of the newly redesigned website in Sept 2018, we've made tweaks and adjustments, particularly to the guidelines section, which receives the most visitors.

The Journal of Infectious Diseases (JID) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are inviting submissions for a thematic supplement titled “Infectious Diseases and Injection Drug Use: Public Health Burden and Response.”

Alzheimer’s disease is devastating for the 44 million people worldwide living with the disease, robbing them of memories and the ability to function independently. Researchers have long sought the cause and worked to develop a cure, without significant success.

The Center for Connected Health Policy recently released an update to their Annual Report which reviews state telehealth laws and reimbursement policies.

IDSA President Cynthia Sears, MD, FIDSA and HIVMA Chair David Hardy, MD issued a statement last week in response to the Department of Health and Human Services’ announcement that human fetal tissue research within NIH would be halted noting, “the department’s decision discounts the life-saving value of a research model that is considered a gold standard, and that is critical to developing treatments for devastating diseases.”

IDSA, HIVMA, and PIDS, along with the National Coalition of STD Directors and Treatment Action Group, responded to the Department of Health and Human Services Request for Information for its first Federal STD Action Plan highlighting issues increasingly raised by IDSA and HIVMA members.

IDSA and HIVMA are piloting a new medical student internship program this summer to give medical students interested in ID and HIV the opportunity to learn more about the connection between the federal policy making process and their future work as physicians and researchers by working with IDSA and HIVMA staff at our headquarters.

Members of Congress will head for their district offices this summer, from July 1 – July 5, and from Aug. 5 – Sept. 6. If you would like to take that opportunity to share IDSA and HIVMA priorities with your representatives, IDSA and HIVMA staff can schedule local meetings and supply you with talking points and briefing papers.

A new comprehensive resource provides practical, expert guidance for the urgent fight against healthcare-associated infections in children across a wide range of medical settings.

Harvard Public Health spoke with IDSA President Cynthia Sears, MD, FIDSA on how the rise of antibiotic resistance is more than just a medical crisis, but also a scientific, economic, political, and moral problem. This is just one of the news pieces that IDSA and our member spokespersons contributed to. Read more here.