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Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email. Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) prequalified the first conjugate vaccine to protect against the five dominant causes of meningococcal meningitis in Africa. The vaccine, MenFive, which was developed through a collaboration between the Serum Institute of India Private Limited and PATH, with financial support from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office, demonstrated a high level of safety and immunogenicity in extensive clinical studies in The Gambia, India, and Mali. WHO’s prequalification will allow MenFive to be procured by United Nations agencies and Gavi, offering a promising tool that could avert the annual outbreaks and epidemics in the African countries with the most meningitis cases and deaths.A multisite phase 1 HIV vaccine clinical trial carried out by the Globally Relevant AIDS Vaccine Europe-Africa Trials Partnership concluded with preliminary analysis demonstrating strong results. The novel mosaic HIV vaccine candidate, HIVconsvX, demonstrated the ability to trigger a strong and specific immune response that targets a broad range of HIV-1 variants, making it potentially applicable for HIV strains around the world. Researchers say it also represents an innovative approach within a pipeline of vaccine candidates that needs to be diverse to maximize the chances of success. The full reporting of the primary findings from the trial is expected later this year followed by further in-depth analysis.Last week, a joint statement from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, WHO, and the World Organization for Animal Health warned that the H5N1 avian flu virus could adapt to more easily infect humans and urged multisector, international partnership and cooperation to protect both animal and human populations. The current H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b has been circulating since 2020, causing unprecedented deaths around the world across different animal populations, especially in wild birds and increasingly, mammals. Although human cases have been only sporadic, maintaining and strengthening surveillance capability to be able to detect viral changes and human cases, as well as testing the currently circulating viruses for resistance to available antiviral drugs, will be essential to avoid further devastation.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) recently released a new five-year strategy to guide its global health research and development (R&D) efforts. Informed by the input of more than 150 stakeholders, the latest strategy continues the agency’s core focus on developing, introducing, and scaling up health technologies and approaches; advancing implementation science; and strengthening R&D systems while more intentionally embedding approaches of partnership, local leadership, monitoring and evaluation, and adaptive learning into its work.Why it matters:  The release of the strategy represents a renewed commitment by the agency to R&D. For more than 50 years, USAID has played a pivotal role in saving and improving lives around the world through its R&D programs. With its strong in-country presence, relationships with government and community leaders, and extensive knowledge of local context and development constraints, USAID is uniquely qualified to advance interventions that are affordable, accessible, scalable, and responsive to the needs of affected communities worldwide.What’s included: The strategy outlines a mission, vision, four objectives, 16 key actions, four approaches, and four principles that will guide its R&D work. View the slide deck below to get a summary overview.Our take: GHTC applauds USAID for developing this comprehensive strategy and for its inclusive design approach, which considered the input of a broad spectrum of US and global stakeholders. We are pleased to see this renewed commitment to R&D and the strategy’s increased emphasis on local leadership; inclusive innovation; and meeting the needs of women, children, and other vulnerable populations.

July 11, 2023Chair Cathy McMorris RodgersEnergy & Commerce Committee2125 Rayburn House Office BuildingWashington, DC 20515Representative Brett GuthrieChair, Subcommittee on HealthEnergy & Commerce Committee2434 Rayburn House Office BuildingWashington, DC 20515Representative Richard HudsonMember, Subcommittee on HealthEnergy & Commerce Committee2112 Rayburn House Office BuildingWashington, DC 2051Ranking Member Frank PalloneEnergy & Commerce Committee2125 Rayburn House Office BuildingWashington, DC 20515Representative Anna G. EshooRanking Member, Subcommittee on HealthEnergy & Commerce Committee272 Cannon House Office BuildingWashington, DC 20515Re: The Urgent Need to Reauthorize PAHPADear Chair McMorris Rodgers, Ranking Member Pallone, and Representatives Guthrie,Eshoo, and Hudson,Thank you for all of the careful and important bipartisan work that each of you and yourstaffs have already put into the upcoming reauthorization of the Pandemic and All-HazardsPreparedness Act (PAHPA), set to expire September 30, 2023.Many of the undersigned organizations have had the privilege of testifying before Congressand the Energy and Commerce Committee over the last 17 years—when the original PAHPAwas passed, for its previous reauthorizations, and for the current reauthorization—andhope to continue serving in this trusted capacity. We are writing to express our strongdesire to see PAHPA reauthorized this year in the same bipartisan tradition.Our nation’s changing health security threat landscape and responsibility to protect theAmerican people demand that we work together now to find a strong bipartisan pathforward to reauthorize this critical legislation. Whether the next health security threat isnaturally occurring, the result of an accident, or intentionally caused, our country must bein a better position to prevent, prepare for, and respond to such incidents.We are concerned that if no bipartisan path is reached this year, the opportunity for PAHPAreauthorization will not be resumed until 2024. In that case, forging a bipartisan pathforward will be even more difficult given the expected political landscape of an electionyear. We worry that in such a case, PAHPA reauthorization may not be achieved until 2025.This would have serious effects on our country’s economic, national, and health security.Page 2 of 21Day SoonerAmerica’s Essential HospitalsAmerican Academy of PediatricsAmerican Lung AssociationAmerican Society for MicrobiologyAssociation for Professionals in InfectionControl and EpidemiologyAssociation for the Advancement of Bloodand Biotherapies (AABB)Association of Maternal & Child HealthProgramsAssociation of State and Territorial HealthOfficialsBig Cities Health CoalitionBipartisan Policy CenterCSL SeqirusFederation of American ScientistsFluGen Inc.Georgetown University Center for GlobalHealth Science and SecurityGlobal Health Technologies Coalition(GHTC) Gryphon ScientificHealthcare ReadyHelixInternational Safety Equipment AssociationJohns Hopkins Center for Health SecurityNational Immigration Law CenterNational Rural Health AssociationNew Orleans BioInnovation CenterResolve to Save LivesSanofiSave the ChildrenSecureBio and MIT Sculpting EvolutionGroupSociety for Healthcare Epidemiology ofAmericaThe Gerontological Society of AmericaThe Institute for ProgressTrust for America’s HealthValneva USA

July 11, 2023 The Honorable Kay Granger Chairwoman House Appropriations Committee 1026 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 The Honorable Rosa DeLauro Ranking Member House Appropriations Committee 2413 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 The Honorable Mario Diaz-Balart Chairman House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs 374 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 The Honorable Barbara Lee Ranking Member House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs 2470 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Dear Chairwoman Granger, Ranking Member DeLauro, Chairman Diaz-Balart, and Ranking Member Lee: Global Health Council (GHC) is the leading member organization with more than 120 members devoted to advancing global health priorities by uniting advocates, implementers, policymakers, and other stakeholders. As a community of global health and development advocates, we are deeply concerned with the steep cuts being proposed to the House State and Foreign Operations and Related Programs (SFOPS) budget at a time when the world is facing concurrent destabilizing events, such as the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, further instability and food insecurity caused by the war in Ukraine, and the continuous threat of emerging infectious diseases. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 budget being proposed by the House Appropriations SFOPS Subcommittee falls woefully short of the resources needed to address these converging crises and severely undercuts critical global health and humanitarian assistance programs, which are a key component of how the U.S. engages with the world. According to the U.S. Agency for International Development, these cuts would reverse gains made to combat infectious diseases, including through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), programs to prevent maternal and childhood deaths, and funds to support health workers and global health security. This bill is a dangerous signal to the rest of the world that the U.S. is ceding leadership on the global stage. Therefore, as FY24 appropriations negotiations progress, GHC, and the undersigned organizations, strongly encourage robust funding for global health and humanitarian assistance programs within the International Affairs (150) account and, at a minimum, support investments for these programs in line with the FY23 enacted levels. Additional funds should come as an increase to the overall topline and not at the expense of any other accounts. If you have any questions about our recommendations, please feel free to contact the Global Health Council at advocacy@globalhealth.org. WWW.GLOBALHEALTH.ORG Sincerely, Abt Associates Action Against Hunger Advancing Synergy AHF Global Public Health Institute Aidsfonds American Academy of Pediatrics Amref Health Africa American Heart Association American Jewish World Service American Leprosy Missions American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene AVAC Better World Campaign CARE Center for Biological Diversity ChildFund International Children's HeartLink Christian Connections for International Health CORE Group Drugs for Neglected Disease initiative (DNDi) Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation Fast-Track Cities Institute Global Health Council Global Health Technologies Coalition Global Justice Center Global Network of Black People working in HIV Heartland Alliance International Health GAP (Global Access Program) Helen Keller Intl HIV Medicine Association IADR - International Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research International Association of Providers of AIDS Care International Center for Research on Women International Medical Corps IntraHealth International Ipas JSI Management Sciences for Health Marked By Covid Medical Impact MPact Global Action m2m WWW.GLOBALHEALTH.ORG NCD Alliance Operation Smile PAI Pandemic Action Network PATH Pathfinder International Planned Parenthood Federation of America Policy Cures Research Population Connection Action Fund Population Institute Preventing Pandemics At The Source (PPATS) Secretariat Project HOPE Public Citizen RESULTS RH Impact RTI International Save the Children Shot@Life Spark Street Advisors Stop TB USA Task Force for Global Health TB Alliance The END Fund Treatment Action Group (TAG) United to Beat Malaria University of Miami Health Policy Lab VillageReach WaterAid America WI-HER Women's Refugee Commission World Vision WWW.GLOBALHEALTH.ORG