FORT MYERS NEWS-PRESS  | COVID caught us off guard. But the US Congress has the power to ensure we’re prepared for the next health crisis — antibiotic-resistant bacteria – the one we know is coming. Public and private investment already supports some of the development of new antibiotics, vaccines, diagnostics and other products needed to address this global health threat. CARB-X for example provides innovators with non-dilutive funding sources to propel antibiotic development. In this opinion piece, Kenneth E. Thorpe, professor of health policy at Emory University and chairman of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, and Erik Paulsen, who represented Minnesota in the US House of Representatives from 2009 to 2019, argue that much more is needed. Current levels of investment aren’t sufficient. A world without effective antibiotics would make everyone worse off. It’d lead to widespread suffering and misery — and lop trillions off global GDP. Only by greatly boosting funding for research and development can we avert such a future.