Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to support research into anti-microbial resistance.

The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including anti-microbial resistance (AMR).

Over the last five years, the NIHR’s programme funding for AMR has totalled £88 million. This includes research that aims to reduce the need for antibiotics, optimising their use and supporting the development of new antimicrobials. This does not include NIHR infrastructure, which is fundamental to supporting all health research.

The NIHR has recently launched a competition for new Health Protection Research Units, in partnership with the UK Health Security Agency and academia, which will include multidisciplinary research to inform the prevention and control of AMR.