Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to make additional funding available to tackle drug-resistant infections over the next five years.

The health and care system across the United Kingdom is taking action against the growing threat of infections that are resistant to the antimicrobial drugs used to treat them.

In December 2014, we published the UK Five Year AMR Strategy detailed implementation plan. The plan set out those activities that needed to be undertaken to deliver the strategy in each of seven key areas for action. Activity in the plan is led by the Department of Health, Public Health England, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and NHS England and is incorporated within existing business plans for those organisations.

The Government has no current plans to make additional funding available to tackle drug-resistant infections. Any proposals for funding would be subject to the outcome of the Spending Review later this year.