The U.S. Government and Antimicrobial Resistance

While the U.S. government has made substantial headway in supporting domestic and international AMR reduction policies, more resources and attention are crucial. To address the threat of AMR, we suggest the following actions:

Congress should include AMR mitigation funding in any coronavirus stimulus legislation to support research, diagnostics, and countermeasure development and to enhance Medicare payments for antibiotic treatments.

The United States should increase funding to support AMR monitoring and reduction activities, including those related to health facility policies, laboratory support, and surveillance across the human, animal, and environmental spectrum (the One Health approach), based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The United States should immediately develop a concrete action plan that is agreed to and supported by industry to create effective incentives for the development and market sustainability of new antimicrobials and other countermeasures.

The United States should prioritize streamlining and making more effective Medicare reimbursement mechanisms and other incentives that confer appropriate social and long-term medical value to AMR- mitigating innovations.

The United States should provide additional support for R&D related to microbial diagnostics and select vaccines.

The United States should exercise significant global leadership around AMR, including advancing pooled international resources for antibiotic research and