President's budget request boosts global health
February 2010 | Volume 9, Issue 1
President Barack Obama reinforced his commitment to both global health and biomedical research in his 2011 budget proposal. He has also released more details about how he intends to implement his Global Health Initiative (GHI), a plan to invest $63 billion over six years.
Cover of the report,
Implementation of the Global
Health Initiative.
For NIH, the budget calls for funding to increase just over 3 percent, up $1 billion, for a total of $32.1 billion. In the detailed breakdown, Fogarty's allocation would rise to about $73 million.
Global Health Initiative Goals
HIV/AIDs: prevent 12 million new infections;
treat 4 million people already infected
Malaria: reduce disease burden by 50 percent
TB: save 1.3 million lives by reducing
prevalence by 50 percent
Maternal health: save 360,000 lives by
reducing maternal mortality by 30 percent
Child health: save 3 million lives by
reducing under-5 mortality by 35 percent
Nutrition: reduce undernutrition by 30 percent
Family planning and reproductive health:
prevent 54 million unintended pregnancies
Neglected tropical diseases: reduce
prevalence by 50 percent
The State Department and USAID would see a nearly 9 percent spending hike for global health under the president's plan, for a total of $8.5 billion.
To coincide with the budget announcement, the administration issued an outline of its strategy for implementing the GHI.
"The challenge of the next decade and beyond is to take these impressive accomplishments to the next level by helping countries achieve long-term sustainability in their health services," it states. "If we succeed in our efforts, we will help improve the lives of millions, limit the long-term cost to U.S. taxpayers, and contribute to a stronger future for American citizens."
GHI's guiding principles were also detailed in the plan and include, among others, encouraging country ownership and country-led plans; improving metrics, monitoring and evaluation; and promoting research and innovation.
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