On March 6, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs held a hearing on the FY2013 budget for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a similar hearing the same day.
With regard to the budget for the Global Health Initiative, Chair Kay Granger (R-TX) said, “I want to call attention to the reductions proposed in the FY2013 budget request for the Global Health account. You were very direct with this subcommittee last year about the lives that could be lost if funding for global health programs was reduced. Yet, the administration is now proposing similar cuts. We need you to explain whether the proposed reductions can be taken without jeopardizing U.S. leadership in important areas like malaria and maternal and child health. I urge you to work closely with the Congress over the next year so that we all have the same information and can make thoughtful decisions about funding these life-saving programs.”
Echoing Rep. Granger’s concerns about the global health budget for FY2013, Ranking Member Nita Lowey (D-NY) said, “The Global Health Initiative is a centerpiece of our development efforts, but the request includes a substantial cut from the FY2012 levels. How can we make these reductions while still maintaining the strength of our efforts? While I certainly appreciate all efforts to be more efficient and cost effective, we must be extremely thoughtful about how we transition programs to greater country ownership. I also hope you will address USAID’s work to build a better health workforce in developing countries, which is an essential component of sustainability and is critical to country ownership of these life-saving programs.”
“Thanks in large part to the bipartisan support we’ve had for investments in global health, we’re on track to provide life-saving assistance to more people than ever before,” said USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah. He continued, “Although this year’s request of $7.9 billion for the Global Health Initiative is lower than FY2012 levels, falling costs, increased investments by partner governments, and efficiencies we’ve generated by integrating efforts and strengthening health systems will empower us to reach even more people. That includes PEPFAR [the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief], which will provide life-saving drugs to those around the world afflicted with HIV and expand prevention efforts in those countries where the pandemic continues to grow. We can expand access to treatment and lift a death sentence for six million people in total without additional funds. We’re also increasingly providing treatment for pregnant mothers with HIV/AIDS so we can ensure their children are born healthy. And because of breakthrough research released last year, we know that putting people on treatment actually helps prevention efforts – treatment is prevention. All of these efforts are accelerating progress towards President Obama’s call for an AIDS-free generation.”
Dr. Shah added, “Our request also includes $619 million for the President’s Malaria Initiative, an effective way to fight child mortality. In country after country, we’ve shown that if we can increase the use of cheap bed nets and anti-malarial treatments, we can cut child deaths – from any cause, not just malaria – by as much as 30 percent. In Ethiopia, the drop in child mortality has been 50 percent. Last year, we commissioned an external, independent evaluation of the Presidential Malaria Initiative’s performances. That report praised the Initiative’s effective leadership for providing ‘excellent and creative program management.’ And we will continue to fund critical efforts in maternal and child health, voluntary family planning, nutrition, tuberculosis, and neglected tropical diseases – cost effective interventions that mean the difference between life and death.”
Dr. Shah also discussed the Feed the Future program. He said, “[W]e are requesting $1 billion to continue funding for Feed the Future, President Obama’s landmark food security initiative. These investments will help countries develop their own agricultural economies, helping them grow and trade their way out of hunger and poverty, rather than relying on food aid. The investments we’re making are focused on country-owned strategies that can lift smallholder farmers – the majority of whom are women – out of poverty and into the productive economy. All told, the resources we’re committing to Feed the Future will help millions of people break out of the ranks of the hungry and impoverished and improve the nutrition of millions of children.” Citing Kenya as an example of the program’s success, Dr. Shah said, “In Kenya, Feed the Future has helped over 90,000 dairy farmers – more than a third of whom are women – increase their total income by a combined $14 million last year. This effort is critical, since we know that sustainable agricultural development will only be possible when women and men enjoy the same access to credit, land, and new technologies.”
