President Barack Obama's administration is seeking more funding to fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria, according to The Washington Post.
The $1.2 billion is part of the president's annual budget request, White House officials said in the report.
According to the report, the funding would be used to "speed development of antibiotics and diagnostic tools, improve surveillance for 'superbugs,' and better prevent the spread of antibiotic-resistant microbes in hospitals and other healthcare settings."
Out of the $1.2 billion, about $650 million would go to the National Institutes of Health and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.
More than $280 million would go toward CDC-led efforts "to curb the overprescribing of antibiotics and to better track outbreaks of drug-resistant infections"; $47 million would go to the Food and Drug Administration "to evaluate new drugs and monitor the use of antibiotics in livestock"; the Agriculture Department would receive an additional $77 million, in part, "to help develop alternatives to the antibiotics used in farm animals"; and the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs would receive $75 million and $85 million, respectively, "to focus on reducing antibiotic-resistant infections in health care settings such as VA hospitals," according to the report.
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