Urge Congress to Pass Critical Funding for Global Health
While Congress has passed fiscal year 2019 funding bills for Health and Human Services agencies, including the NIH and CDC, it has yet to pass a funding bill for U.S. global health programs at the Department of State and USAID.
For the first time in over five years, Congress is considering a $50 million increase for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the flagship U.S. global HIV program that provides lifesaving HIV treatment and other services for millions globally. This increase would come at a critical time as the House has passed reauthorization of the program and the Senate is poised to vote on reauthorization over the coming weeks. Congress is also considering a $41 million increase for USAID’s global TB program on the heels of the UN High Level Meeting on ending tuberculosis which drew commitments from all UN nations, including the U.S., to find and treat 40 million people with TB within the next four years.
Congress has until Dec. 7 to approve funding for global HIV, tuberculosis, malaria and global health security programs at PEPFAR, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and USAID programs. Click here to tell your representatives to pass the funding bill by the Dec. 7 deadline and to include critical increases for global ID programs.