Washington D.C., March 15, 2019 - Malaria No More strongly opposes the sweeping cuts to lifesaving, cost-effective global health programs requested in President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2020 (FY 20) budget request. The request significantly decreases U.S. funding to the two largest entities working to drastically reduce deaths and illness from malaria thereby putting the world on a path to ending the disease – the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Specifically, the proposal calls for PMI to be funded at $674 million, a reduction of $81 million compared to FY19 and FY18 amounts appropriated by the Congress, and the Global Fund to be funded at $1.1 billion, a shortfall of $460 million needed in FY20 to support programs and catalyze matching resources from other donors. The proposed cuts to lifesaving global health programs are consistent with the President’s budget request during the last two years, however, each time, Congress rejected those proposals.

“This budget request is contrary to American values and if enacted would weaken the historic leadership role the U.S. plays in saving millions of lives around the world from deadly diseases, including malaria,” said Josh Blumenfeld, Managing Director for Global Policy and Advocacy, Malaria No More. “Thanks to longstanding, bipartisan leadership, Congress recognized the tremendous impact U.S. investments in malaria are having in driving down deaths and saving lives. We call on the Congress to continue providing robust funding for critical, cost-effective, and life-saving efforts to control and eliminate malaria.”

As the largest supporter of the fight to end malaria, U.S. leadership has been a key driver in significantly reducing deaths from malaria – saving nearly 7 million lives and preventing more than 1 billion cases of malaria since 2000. By investing in areas hardest hit by the disease, U.S. dollars are having tremendous impact year over year in saving lives and helping prompt a shift in global efforts from controlling malaria to striving to eliminate it for good.

Global health and development programs also advance America’s leadership and interests in the world, bolstering health security, advancing economic growth, and building lasting partnerships between the United States and our partners and allies.

PMI operates in 24 focus countries in Africa and supports three programs in Southeast Asia protecting nearly half a billion people from malaria every year. Thanks to increased congressional support in 2017, PMI expanded its programs to five new countries in Africa protecting an additional 90 million people.

The Global Fund is the largest international funder of malaria prevention and treatment efforts accounting for approximately 60% of total funding to eliminate the disease. According to its Sixth Replenishment Investment case, the Global Fund partnership will help save 16 million lives, cut the current mortality rate in half and prevent 234 million new infections among the three diseases by 2023 if it meets its funding target of at least $14 billion.

Without continued bipartisan leadership and investment in global health programs, the U.S. will not achieve its stated goal of ending preventable child and maternal deaths and extreme poverty.