Obama seeks to double funding to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria

U.S. President Barack Obama will request nearly doubling the amount of federal funding to more than 1.2 billion U.S. dollars in his 2016 budget for combating and preventing antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the White House said Tuesday.

"The funding will improve antibiotic stewardship; strengthen antibiotic resistance risk assessment, surveillance, and reporting capabilities; and drive research innovation in the human health and agricultural sectors," the White House said in a statement.

Of that amount, more than 650 million dollars would help the National Institutes of Health and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority develop antibacterial and new rapid diagnostics, and launch a large scale effort to characterize drug resistance.

More than 280 million dollars would go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to support antibiotic stewardship, outbreak surveillance, antibiotic use and resistance monitoring, and research and development related to combating antibiotic resistance.

According to the CDC, at least two million cases of illness and 23,000 deaths are caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria every year in the United States.

In September 2014, Obama signed an executive order launching federal efforts to address the antibiotic-resistance crisis.

The Obama administration also issued a national strategy on combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which outlines steps the U.S. government will take to improve prevention, detection, and control of resistant pathogens. Endite