Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to recommendation 9 of the final report of The Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, published in May 2016, whether and within what timescale the Government plans to consider possible changes to its purchase and distribution systems for antibiotics.

The Government will work with the international community to develop and agree a system which encourages the pharmaceutical industry to develop new antibiotics in line with the recommendations made in the final report of the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance. The Department will meanwhile continue its ongoing dialogue with the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry on antibiotic pricing and reimbursement in the hope of reaching agreement by the end of the year on a set of potential options for a reimbursement model suitable for piloting in England.