IDSA’s “Science Speaks”: Spending bill boosts NIH, USAID TB, lifts Fogarty, flatlines PEPFAR, Global Fund
Rabita Aziz, a writer with “Science Speaks,” discusses global health-related aspects of the FY18 Omnibus spending bill approved by Congress last week (3/23).

Global Fund: Global Fund Thanks U.S. Congress for Steadfast Support against HIV, TB and Malaria
“The Global Fund applauds the U.S. Congress for approving $1.35 billion in funding for the Global Fund for the 2018 U.S. fiscal year. This tremendous support from the United States is essential as the Global Fund accelerates progress in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria…” (3/23).

Health GAP: Statement from Health Gap on Flat Funding the Global HIV Response in the Omnibus Spending Bill
In a statement responding to the FY18 Omnibus spending bill, Jamila Headley, managing director of Health GAP, writes, “The reality is, funding for the U.S. global HIV response has been stagnating for years, and it’s time for a reckoning. Though Congress took a step in the right direction by rejecting Trump’s cuts, one in two people living with HIV still don’t have access to life-saving treatment and while it’s possible to end AIDS as an epidemic by 2030, we won’t get there without $850 million in additional PEPFAR funding in the fiscal year 2019 budget — the minimum amount needed to put us on track” (3/23).