An announcement from the White House this Thursday highlighted a new plan to revamp efforts to combat drug-resistant forms of bacteria. The intention is to prevent these “superbugs” from posing an even greater threat to public health.

The overuse of antibiotics has been a concerning issue to health officials for years. Antibiotics in both the food and health industries has contributed to the issue of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria that threaten health worldwide.

Dr. Jesse Goodman, director of the Center on Medical Product Access, Safety and Stewardship at Georgetown University Medical Center, said, “It is not just a U.S. problem … antibiotic misuse continues to be rampant around the world.”

According to the CDC, these drug-resistant organisms are responsible for 23,000 deaths and 2 million illnesses each year in the United States. Estimated costs are thought to be $20 billion in healthcare and $35 billion in lost wages and productivity.

To address the continued threat, President Barack Obama signed an executive order forming a task force that will approach the issue as a threat to the economy as well as to national security.

The task force will head up efforts to refine education in proper administration of antibiotics across public, private and academic spheres.

Additionally, they will be responsible for promoting innovations in antibacterial treatments as well as new treatments and technologies aimed at discouraging the spread of these superbugs. A $20 million prize was announced by the White House to drive innovations in detection and diagnostic tests.

A panel of advisers to the president said in a report, “In the fight against microbes, no permanent victory is possible: as new treatments are developed, organisms will evolve new ways to become resistant.”

The president also called upon federal agencies such as Veterans Affair and the FDA to revamp policies surrounding the administration of antibiotics in medical and food production practices.

Antibiotics are often used when raising food animals, but not only for sick animals. Healthy animals are given the drugs to aid in growth. The FDA has responded to this method of antibiotic overuse by having drug companies remove the use of these drugs for growth purposes from their labels. Doing this means that those drugs will no longer be considered approved for such uses.