Budget Deal Reached on Global Health Programs and Needle Exchange Ban

Lawmakers have finalized the fiscal year 2010 budget for foreign assistance, setting funding for key programs to fight global HIV and TB and reaching a landmark deal to revise the needle-exchange ban.
The agreement—expected to pass the House before the end of this week and the Senate before the end of next week—includes some modest increases [...]

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New vaccine would revolutionize the fight against tuberculosis…if funding is available

How could the world dramatically lower the incidence of tuberculosis and save millions of lives? 
An effective TB vaccine would revolutionize the response to TB, which kills about 5000 people each day, and eliminate the need for lengthy and often difficult drug treatment.   
An effective vaccine would be of tremendous benefit all over the world, including in the [...]

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House Panel Nixes Needle Exchange Ban, Senate Sets Funding for Global HIV/AIDS and TB

A key House subcommittee has called for lifting the ban on funding for needle-exchange programs, a significant step forward in the hard-fought battle for evidence-based treatment of HIV/AIDS.
Disease experts, particularly those who specialize in treating HIV/AIDS, have long argued that the ban on needle exchange unnecessarily impeded HIV/AIDS prevention efforts. Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., chairman [...]

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From U.S. Senate to G8 Summit, Global Health Issues at Stake

From Capitol Hill to sub-Saharan Africa, the subject of spending on global health is likely to take center stage this week, or at least a more prominent place than usual. But the increased attention may not result in more robust resources for the deadly epidemics of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.
In Washington, the Senate Appropriations Committee is [...]

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Update: House Spending Committee Boosts Funding for Global HIV & TB

Global health programs targeting HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis got a surprise boost on Tuesday when the House Appropriations Committee took up the foreign affairs spending bill.
Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., successfully offered an amendment adding $50 million to global TB programs, a welcome move particularly given growing threat of drug-resistant TB. This boost followed a letter to [...]

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Key Decision on TB and AIDS Funding Looms in the U.S. House

Editor’s Note: We will be blogging today about the House Appropriations subcommittee meeting, filing an update on funding levels for global health programs. So check back to see what happens!
At last week’s HIV/AIDS Implementers’ Meeting in Namibia, participants expressed deep concern about the commitment among donor nations to maintaining the momentum in the global fight against [...]

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Further budget analysis from Global Center

Yesterday we received more information about the budget proposal from President Obama.  There are some new details, such as his proposal to flat-fund US backing for the Global Fund.  His proposal does not add up, I am sorry to say, and it is not consistent with the Hyde-Lantos legislation the President co-sponsored last year.  Why [...]

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The 63 Billion Dollar Question

This week the Obama Administration seemed to take a page from George Bush’s old playbook as the new Administration announces a very big sounding figure, $63 billion, for global health programs that help poor countries — when, in fact, the proposal obscures the real facts about the Obama budget, especially for FY 2010.

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Nothing to sneeze at

It’s not enough, but Congress did provide a small surprise boost in bilateral TB funding for this fiscal year-padding the FY09 appropriations bill with an extra $7.5 million for combating global tuberculosis.
Overall, the bill includes $162.5 million for global TB, a little more than the $155 million global HIV/AIDS & TB advocates had anticipated. That’s [...]

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