Obama to Propose Doubling Funding to Fight Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
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Official White House Photo by Pete Souza(WASHINGTON) — The White House said on Tuesday that President Obama plans to propose legislation that would double the funding to fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
“Antibiotic resistance is one of the most pressing public health issues facing the world today,” the White House said in a statement, noting that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates about two million Americans fall ill and 23,000 die each year due to antibiotic-resistant bacteria. “Antibiotic resistance,” the administration concludes, “limits our ability to quickly and reliably treat bacterial infections, and the rise of resistance could hamper our ability to perform a range of modern medical procedures from joint replacements to organ transplants, the safety of which depends on our ability to treat bacterial infections that can arise as post-surgical complications.”
The president’s 2016 budget will therefore include $1.2 billion in funding to combat and prevent antibiotic resistance. That money will go towards strengthening risk assessment, surveillance and reporting, as well as driving research innovation.
The CDC estimates that antibiotic resistance accounts for $20 billion in excess direct health care costs and up to $35 billion in lost productivity due to hospitalization and sick days.
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