Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what his Department’s priorities are when allocating funding to curb antimicrobial resistance (AMR); and with reference to the recommendations of the UK's Special Envoy on AMR and the CEO of WaterAid UK, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of changing priorities to favour spending on the improvement of water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure in healthcare facilities.

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is a priority for the UK Government. We recently announced up to £210 million for the Fleming Fund. Improvements in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) to prevent infections, including WASH in health care facilities, is critically important. The UK-funded Hygiene and Behaviour Change Coalition supported 14,800 facilities with WASH supplies and trained 460,000 health workers on hygiene improvements. UK bilateral ODA WASH spend totalled £46 million in 2022. Multilaterals spend was £63 million in 2021. In our ODA funding decisions, we seek to achieve multiple benefits, including through our investments in WASH.