e-3068 (Health)

Petition to the Government of Canada

• Antibiotics are critical medicines that prevent and treat infections in humans, animals and crops, but they are losing their effectiveness at a rate faster than our ability to identify and develop new drugs and other treatments;
• In 2018, 26% of infections were resistant to antibiotics in Canada;
• Without further action, the number is expected to increase to 40% by the year 2050, costing the Canadian healthcare system $7.6 billion annually;
• 1 in 18 deaths in Canada are caused by sepsis, due in part to the failure of front-line antibiotics;
• Without an urgent response, common infections and minor injuries will once again take lives and cause significant harm to Canada’s health system and economy;
• The Pan-Canadian Framework on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) provides an important foundation for a Pan-Canadian Action Plan and supports implementation of the World Health Organization’s Global Action Plan on AMR;
• A Pan-Canadian Action Plan is critically needed to drive new programs and funding in infection prevention and control, stewardship, surveillance, research and innovation to address the rising rate of resistance in Canada; and
• The COVID-19 pandemic has created greater urgency around a Pan-Canadian Action Plan, to ensure Canada’s public health system is ready to address rates of antimicrobial resistance that are expected to accelerate in the COVID and post-COVID environment.