Washington D.C., May 16, 2019 - The House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations approved the Fiscal Year 2020 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs funding bill today, which contained increases in funding for critical life-saving programs working to end malaria.
The bill includes $1.56 billion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, $210 million above the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 enacted level and $602 million above the President’s budget request, as well as language maintaining the U.S.’s contribution of 33% of total funding. The bill also maintains the FY 2019 enacted funding levels for the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), the largest U.S. bilateral program working to end malaria, at $755 million.
Since 2000, global efforts, led by U.S. leadership and investments, have reduced malaria deaths by 60% and malaria cases by 37%, saving seven million lives and preventing more than one billion cases.
“The House of Representatives took a clear step today to expand the United States’ leading role in supporting and protecting millions of people who are at risk of malaria globally. We are grateful to our champions in the House of Representatives and the American people for leading the world in support of these transformative initiatives that are saving millions of lives,” said Josh Blumenfeld, Managing Director for Global Policy and Advocacy, Malaria No More. “We look to the full House of Representatives and the Senate to continue the longstanding, bipartisan tradition of supporting the Global Fund and the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative.” continued Blumenfeld.
The $1.56 billion in funding included for the Global Fund, if approved by the full House of Representatives, would be an important leadership signal to the world as the Global Fund seeks at least$14 billion, to save 16 million lives, in total global investment during its Sixth Replenishment conference this fall. The Appropriations Committee also sustained critical funding for the President’s Malaria Initiative, which reached a record number of people in FY 2018. PMI’s recently released annual report to Congress, highlighted that the program protected more than 570 million people at risk of malaria in FY 2018, 90 million more than in FY 2017.
Malaria No More thanks its many long-standing Champions in Congress, and looks forward to continuing to work with the Senate and the House of Representatives to achieve the highest funding level possible for the President’s Malaria Initiative and the Global Fund, in order to save the lives of millions of women and children, avert hundreds of millions of cases of malaria, HIV and TB, improve local capacity, and provide care for marginalized populations.
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About Malaria No More
Malaria No More envisions a world where no one dies from a mosquito bite. More than a decade into our mission, our work has contributed to historic progress toward this goal. Now, we’re mobilizing the political commitment, funding, and innovation required to achieve what would be one of the greatest humanitarian accomplishments – ending malaria within our generation. For more information, visit www.malarianomore.org
