Congressional budget deal meets Obama’s HIV request, rejects proposed TB cuts
A Congressional budget agreement released Monday night cuts foreign aid by $1 billion from the level set for fiscal year 2013, but prioritizes global health and humanitarian programs, according to a House Appropriations Committee release. The agreement meets President Obama’s request for Global Fund and HIV program allotments.
The $8.44 billion allotted for global health is $37 million less than the amount set for 2013, but provides $380 million more than the amount left after sequestration cuts. Of that, $22.1 billion is set for bilateral foreign assistance, with funding for international HIV programs meeting President Obama’s request for $6 billion. That means $4.067 for the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief, a program that has seen funding drop for the last three years, $1.65 billion for for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and $330 million for USAID’s HIV/AIDS programs.
The deal rejects President Obama’s proposed cut for TB funding, allocating $236 million for bilateral tuberculosis programs, $45 million above his request. This restores bilateral TB funding to the level set for fiscal year 2012. At the same time, of the approximately $6.85 billion for the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control in the agreement, just $135 million is set for CDC’s TB program which funds the TB Trials Consortium as well as domestic TB control. This is a modest increase from post sequestration 2013 spending, but a cut from 2012 TB research funding that was set for $140 million. The agreement sets $665 million for the United States Agency for International Development’s malaria efforts, while President Obama’s proposal asked for $670 million.
A $1 billion dollar increase for the National Institutes of Health means continuation of existing research programs and the potential for 385 additional studies and trials, according to a summary released by Sen.Tom Harkin.
The “Global Gag Rule,” prohibiting organizations that receive federal funds from providing information about abortion services is not included in the agreement.
Source: Science Speaks
