This event is organised by the Oxford Martin Programme on Collective Responsibility for Infectious Disease
Abstract: Today, as we increasingly turn our attention to antibiotic resistance and the possibility of a post-antibiotic era, it is important to consider the historical evolution of attempts to implement the “rational” use of antibiotics. In this talk, Scott Podolsky examines seven decades of reformers who have attempted to change how antibiotics are developed, marketed and prescribed. Tensions between antibiotic development and conservation, and between education and regulation, continue to play out today in medical offices, hospitals, industry, agricultural enterprises, and the halls of government alike.