The UK government has announced a £210m investment to support the global fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
For the next three years, the funding from the government’s UK aid budget will support the Fleming Fund’s activities to tackle AMR across Asia and Africa to help reduce the threat it poses to the UK and globally.
The investment is the largest ever to be seen in global AMR surveillance by a country and builds on the government’s plan to incentivise drug companies for the development of new antibiotics.
AMR poses a deadly threat to public health globally and causes around 1.27 million deaths worldwide each year.
The funding will support 25 countries where the threat and burden of AMR are highest, including Indonesia, Ghana and Kenya, enhancing surveillance capacities and upgrading over 250 laboratories, which will gain state-of-the-art equipment, including new genome sequencing technology.
Over 20,000 training sessions will be provided to strengthen the international health workforce, including laboratory staff, pharmacists and hospital staff.
Around 200 Fleming Fund scholarships will be also be offered to enhance expertise in microbiology, AMR policy and One Health.
The investment will drive the second phase of the UK-India Fleming Fund partnership and accelerate collaboration on AMR surveillance across One Health sectors, helping both countries deliver on their 2030 roadmap.
The secretary of state for health and social care, Steve Barclay, will visit India’s National Centre for Disease Control, where the Indian government and the Fleming Fund will join forces to combat AMR.
He will also attend an innovative health technology showcase with representatives from UK and Indian artificial intelligence and digital health firms.
Barclay said: “This record funding will allow countries most at risk to tackle [AMR] and prevent it from taking more lives across the world, ultimately making us safer at home.”
The UK’s special envoy on AMR, Sally Davies, added: “This world-leading investment in AMR laboratories, workforce and systems is a vital contribution to realise our vision of a world free of drug-resistant infection.”
The G20 Health Ministers’ meeting takes place in Gandhinagar, India, from 18-19 August.