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In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week. Representatives of major pharmaceutical companies in Europe and the United States have pledged to release detailed data about their drugs to outside researchers. The World Health Organization has prequalified a new vaccine against Japanese Encephalitis, biopharmaceutical company Biological E announced this week. The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations released its fiscal year 2014 funding levels for global health programs, which includes support for research programs at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department. In related news, Foreign Policy reports that global health and development advocates are “reeling” from a House Appropriations Committee bill that would slash funding for several key international assistance programs. USAID and the National Institutes of Health announced funding for 16 new health research projects in 10 countries under the agencies’ Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research Health program. Following the African Union Special Summit earlier this month, leaders pledged to work toward the elimination of HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria in Africa by 2030. Key components of this pledge include supporting vaccine development, scaling up investment in pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity, and enhancing access to affordable and quality medicines.

The House State and Foreign Operations (SFOPS) Appropriations Subcommittee on Friday held a hearing on its fiscal year (FY) 2014 budget legislation. The bill funds programs at the State Department and US Agency for International Development (USAID), including key global health research activities. Overall, global health programs fared relatively well under the bill, compared with other SFOPS accounts. That said, the Global Health Programs account, which includes activities at the State Department and USAID, was funded at $8.175 billion—a $140 million cut from the FY2014 request from President Obama but an increase of $200 million compared with the final FY2013 funding level. Under the bill: USAID would receive $2.505 billion in FY2014 for global health programs, which is a reduction of $140 million from Obama’s request. The State Department’s global health programs would receive $5.67 billion, which is equal to the FY2014 requested level. Therefore, it seems that spending cut to global health programs was taken from USAID and not the State Department. The House SFOPS bill would reduce funding for global health and research programs at the State Department and USAID. Photo: Evelyn Hockstein/PATH There’s not much detail offered on funding levels for specific diseases and sectors. There is language in the bill that implies full funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria within the State Department budget. However, no dollar amount is mentioned. One exception to this pattern is family planning. The legislation caps this funding at $461 million (equivalent to the FY2008 level) and contains language that would reinstate the Mexico City Policy. Accounts for international development banks, United Nations programs, and development assistance were slashed heavily. Development assistance programs would be funded at $2.0 billion under the bill, or a cut of $838 million from Obama’s FY2014 request of $2.837 billion. As we’ve seen in recent House versions of this legislation, all funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) would be prohibited. Key umbrella funding mechanisms like the International Organizations and Programs (IOP) account were cut by more than 50 percent from FY2013 levels. This is important to note as some widely popular programs, such as the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), are included in the IOP category. Therefore, if programs like UNICEF are cut due to IOP reductions, allies may try to restore their funding by reducing support for other accounts, such as global health. The subcommittee hearing itself was short. Co-Chair Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) criticized the wide range of cuts included in the bill. The full Appropriations Committee plans to vote on this legislation later this week. As a result of sequestration, Congress is operating under tight budget caps for nearly every account. Even with these broad requirements, however, the House and Senate approaches to funding SFOPS programs are vastly different. The House version of the SFOPs bill is roughly 22 percent lower than the post-sequestration FY2013 level. It’s also 25 percent lower than the Senate version. The Senate SFOPs subcommittee will vote on its version on Tuesday. These two bills need to be reconciled on a funding and policy basis before any progress can be made. Funding delays and severe, indiscriminate budget cuts have a devastating impact on global health research and development programs, halting the creation of products that will save millions of lives. Congress should move quickly to protect these programs in upcoming Committee discussions and final budget negotiations later this year. Ashley Bennett is the GHTC’s policy officer.

In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week. The House Appropriations Committee has released its fiscal year (FY) 2014 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, which is under consideration today in subcommittee. The bill contains $1.4 billion for the US Agency for International Development—a reduction of $172 million from the FY2013 level. The World Health Organization has added three new drugs developed by GHTC member Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative to its Essential Medicines List for Children. A new House bill would exempt US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) user fees from sequestration. The FDA's budget is heavily supported by user fees from the industries it regulates, and sequestration would cut about $85 million from the agency's budget in 2013 by hitting these fees. A new guide from the Council on Health Research for Development aims to provide low- and middle-income countries with greater control over research collaborations. The guidance covers issues such as intellectual property rights, ownership of data and samples, capacity building, technology transfer, compensation for indirect costs, and the legislative context of research contracts. The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences recently awarded a total of $12.7 million to nine research projects aimed at discovering new uses for drugs that failed in previous clinical trials. The Sabin Vaccine Institute Product Development Partnership (Sabin PDP) announced the launch of a soil-transmitted helminth vaccine research program. The program will advance candidates for ascariasis (roundworm) and trichuriasis (whipworm) infections and incorporate them into existing hookworm and schistosomiasis under development by the Sabin PDP to create a vaccine against all four major human helminth infections.

Last week, a bipartisan group of legislators in both the House and Senate introduced the Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act of 2013. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Reps. Ted Poe (R-TX) and Gerry Connolly (D-VA) introduced the companion bills. Rep. Poe is co-chair of the Congressional Caucus for Effective Foreign Assistance. According to the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network, the legislation puts in place guidelines on foreign aid that would apply to all relevant US federal agencies, along with metrics to measure progress. It would also require the president to maintain and expand the Foreign Assistance Dashboard, an online resource that allows users to examine, research, and track US government foreign assistance investments. Under the bill, the Dashboard would be broadened to include all US agencies that administer foreign aid programs. Currently, only five are represented: the State Department, the US Agency for International Development, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the US Department of the Treasury, and the Department of Defense. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Reps. Ted Poe (R-TX) and Gerry Connolly (D-VA) introduced companion bills that would reform several aspects of US foreign aid programs. A previous version of the bill came very close to becoming law during the last congress—the bill passed the House unanimously, but was held up at the last moment in the Senate. Supporters are hopeful that this new legislation won’t face the hurdles of previous versions, and already there are signs the bill could pass this year. Leaders from the global health and international development community have expressed broad support for the bill and have called on Congress to move it through the legislative process quickly. The reforms in the bill are welcome improvements in how the US government reports on its progress, as well as its challenges, with its foreign aid programs. As is the case with most global health research and development programs, hard data on how programs are funded, successes, and educational failures can be difficult to synthesize. Publicly available data that shows the effectiveness of the broad array of US foreign aid activities could boost support from US taxpayers and communities in target countries—ideally leading to a more adaptive, stronger foreign assistance platform.