USAID Global Health Programs: FY2001-FY2012 Request

Tiaji Salaam-Blyther
Specialist in Global Health

A number of U.S. agencies and departments implement U.S. government global health interventions. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) plays a particularly central role. The agency is responsible for coordinating two important presidential health initiatives—the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) and the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Program. USAID serves as an implementing agency of the largest U.S. global health program— the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)—and is set to assume leadership over the Global Health Initiative (GHI) in September 2012 (presuming it meets a set of benchmarks related to management capacity, as outlined in the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review). In addition, Congress appropriates the most funds to USAID for global health efforts, excluding provisions for presidential health initiatives, which are carried out by several agencies, including USAID.

Congress appropriates funds to USAID for global health activities through five main budget lines: Child Survival and Maternal Health (CS/MH), Vulnerable Children (VC), HIV/AIDS, Other Infectious Diseases (OID), and Family Planning and Reproductive Health (FP/RH). From FY2001 through FY2010, Congress appropriated nearly $20 billion to USAID for global health programs, including contributions to the United Nations’ Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis (Global Fund). From FY2001 through FY2010, the greatest budgetary growth was aimed at fighting infectious diseases, mainly malaria, tuberculosis (TB), and pandemic influenza.

President Barack Obama indicated early in his Administration that global health is a priority and that his Administration would continue to focus global health efforts on addressing HIV/AIDS. When releasing his FY2012 budget request, President Obama indicated that his Administration would increase investments in global health programs and, through the Global Health Initiative, improve the coordination of all global health programs. The President requested that in FY2012, Congress provide $3.8 billion for USAID’s global health programs funded through the Global Health and Child Survival (GHCS) account.

There is a growing consensus that U.S. global health assistance needs to become more efficient and effective. There is some debate, however, on the best strategies. This report explains the role USAID plays in U.S. global health assistance, highlights how much the agency has spent on global health efforts from FY2001 to FY2012, discusses how funding to each of its programs has changed during this period, and raises some related policy questions. For more information on all U.S. global health assistance, see CRS Report R41851, U.S. Global Health Assistance: Background and Issues for the 112th Congress, by Tiaji Salaam-Blyther and Alexandra E. Kendall.


Date of Report: June 30, 2011
Number of Pages: 19
Order Number: RS22913
Price: $29.95

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