A nearly $1.4 trillion spending bill passed by the U.S. Senate includes millions of dollars in funding for public health strategies but offers inadequate responses to certain challenges, according to prominent infection prevention societies.
The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America applauded passage of the bill, noting it has set aside the following funds for public health efforts:
• $636.8 million increase in budgetary authority for the CDC to advance public health prevention programs.
• $2 million increase for CDC's Antibiotic Resistance Solutions Initiative.
• $50 million new line item within CDC's Public Health Scientific Services to modernize public health data infrastructure.
• $50 million increase for the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to prioritize antibiotic resistance combat efforts.
But the Infectious Diseases Society of America said the bill does not do enough to confront urgent challenges. The society states that while the $2 million increase for CDC's antibiotic-resistance initiative "is important, a greater investment is needed to support CDC efforts to promote antibiotic stewardship, track resistant pathogens and prevent their spread."
The society also said the federal spending bill's flat funding for several key programs, including the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, National Healthcare Safety Network and the Immunization Program, will limit the CDC's ability to address urgent health needs.