July 12, 2016
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington, D.C., July 12, 2016 — Today, the House Appropriations Committee approved a Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 appropriations bill for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs.
The committee recommended $8.92 billion for lifesaving global health programs, including $6 billion for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Global Fund; $845 million to prevent and treat malaria through the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI); and $236 million for programs to fight tuberculosis implemented by USAID. The legislation specifically recommends up to $1.35 billion for the Global Fund.
This announcement follows the Senate Appropriations Committee’s June 29 approval of a FY 2017 bill that recommended $8.67 billion in funding for global health, including $6 billion for programs to fight HIV/AIDS, inclusive of $1.35 billion for the Global Fund. The Senate bill also includes $241 million for global tuberculosis programs – a $50 million increase above the President’s request and $5 million more than FY 2016 funding – and $745 million to combat malaria, a $71 million increase from FY 2016.
“Friends of the Global Fight is extremely grateful to the Members of Congress and their hardworking staff on the House and Senate State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittees and full Committees for demonstrating bipartisan leadership in support of global health programs to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria,” said Friends Policy Director Houston Ernst.
Later this year, the Global Fund and the Government of Canada will host the Fifth Replenishment Pledging Conference to raise funds for the Global Fund’s 2017-2019 funding cycle. The Global Fund is seeking to raise $13 billion, pledged from the public and private sectors, which would enable the Global Fund partnership to save an additional 8 million lives, avert 300 million new infections of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and advance shared global goals to end these diseases as epidemics by 2030.
“We must continue to urge the United States and our global partners to make robust investments in high-return, public-private partnerships like the Global Fund, which has saved 17 million lives since 2002,” Ernst said. “Sustained funding is critical to continuing the Global Fund’s lifesaving work.”
Friends of the Global Fight looks forward to continuing to work with both the Senate and the House Appropriations Committees to maximize FY 2017 investments to the Global Fund and to U.S. bilateral global health programs so that the United States remains the leader in the fight to defeat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
FRIENDS OF THE GLOBAL FIGHT AGAINST AIDS, TUBERCULOSIS AND MALARIA
Friends of the Global Fight works to end the worldwide burden of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. We educate, engage and mobilize U.S. decision makers to support the Global Fund, the world’s largest public health financier. For more information about Friends of the Global Fight, visit www.theglobalfight.org.
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Contact:
Katie Broendel
+1 202 912 3833
[email protected]