States to Receive $200M in Funding to Combat Infectious Diseases

August 2017 ~

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded more than $200 million through the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases (ELC) cooperative agreement program to assist states, cities, counties, and territories prevent, detect, respond to, and control the growing threats posed by emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.

The CDC funds include $77 million to help state health departments fight local antibiotic resistance threats. CDC is investing in every state to combat antibiotic-resistant foodborne infections and infections in healthcare facilities and communities.

The CDC estimates over 20,000 people in the United States die each year from antibiotic-resistant infections. “More than 23,000 people in the United States die each year from infections caused by antibiotic resistance,” said CDC Director Brenda Fitzgerald, M.D. “CDC is committed to helping states and cities strengthen their ability to combat antibiotic resistance, and these funds will help state efforts to keep people safe.”

A key factor in the growing prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant infections has been the continued overuse of antibiotics, which health officials say have become increasingly ineffective against some of the worst pathogens.

This new funding is intended to help expand and enhance the Antibiotic Resistance Laboratory Network (AR Lab Network) to sound the alarm when known and emerging antibiotic resistance threats are detected. Data generated by the AR Lab Network can help improve infection control in healthcare facilities and enable more rapid and effective responses to outbreaks.

Infectious disease experts called the award “fantastic”, saying any increase in federal funding will go a long way toward strengthening the country’s network of state and local public health laboratories.

“The funding is really going to do terrific things for advancing laboratory science and improving our ability to be responsive when there are outbreaks of particularly alarming diseases,” said Peter Kyriacopoulos, senior director of public policy at the Association of Public Health Laboratories.

For more details and breakdown of state-specific funding, see the ELC Cooperative Agreement and for more information on CDC’s Antibiotic Resistance Solutions Initiative, refer to the CDC’s Drug Resistance Index.

Source(s): Modern Healthcare A.M.; Centers for Disease and Prevention (CDC); The Healthcare Loop; Healthcare Finance News;