2012 Survey of Americans on the U.S. Role in Global Health
Section 1: Foreign Aid and the U.S. Role in the World
Total spending by the U.S. on foreign aid represents approximately one percent of the federal budget. This spending is made up of economic assistance, including for health and other development projects, as well as international security assistance, which includes foreign military financing and training, peacekeeping, and other activities. See Department of State, FY 2013 Congressional Budget Justification for Foreign Operations, March/April 2012, http://www.state.gov/f/releases/iab/fy2013cbj/index.htm; and Department of State, State and USAID – FY 2013 Budget, February 2012, http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2012/02/183808.htm
Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Policy Basics: Where Do Our Federal Tax Dollars Go? http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=1258
Other Kaiser surveys have asked more specifically about reductions in spending on foreign aid and other areas as a way to reduce the federal budget deficit, and have found that much larger shares of the public would support major reductions in spending on foreign aid compared with other areas. See, for example, Kaiser Health Tracking Poll April 2011, http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/8180.cfm
Section 3: Views on U.S. Global Health Spending
In absolute dollar amounts, the U.S. government gave more than any other donor country in Official Development Assistance (ODA) for health from 2002-2009. When looking at health ODA as a share of each country’s GDP, the U.S. ranked eighth during this time period. For more information, see Kaiser Family Foundation Donor Funding for Health in Low- & Middle-Income Countries, 2002-2009, http://www.kff.org/globalhealth/7679.cfm.