Global Health Policy

As the Global Fund’s November board meeting approaches – where the future of the Affordable Medicines Facility for Malaria (AMFm) hangs in the balance – there is much anxiety that AMFm will be terminated in 2013. The reason for such anxiety is clear: no donors have pledged funding commitments for after December 2012. But there’s another elephant in the room: the US government’s apparent lack of support, particularly its legislated “opt-in” stance on AMFm: “the Global Fund should not support activities involving the ‘Affordable Medicines Facility-malaria’ or similar entities pending compelling evidence of success from pilot programs as evaluated by the Coordinator of United States Government Activities to Combat Malaria Globally.” (Conversely, an opt-out stance would be to support AMFm unless no compelling evidence is presented.) This very specific and strict provision makes the AMFm’s continued survival all but impossible without an explicit endorsement by US Global Malaria Coordinator (currently Rear Admiral Tim Ziemer) who leads the US President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) housed in the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Announced in May 2009 by President Obama, the Global Health Initiative (GHI) promised a new way for the United States to do business in global health. Fragmented U.S. programs would be united under a single banner; vertical structures would be dismantled in favor of an integrated approach; and narrow, disease-focused programs would transition toward a focus on broader health challenges, such as maternal health, child survival, and health systems’ strengthening.

One of the few things donors agreed on at the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan was the need for increased transparency: better aid data is needed to help donors channel their aid more effectively and recipient countries hold their donors accountable. Yet despite the shared commitment, data on aid flows remains incomplete, complicated and fragmented, particularly at the sector level.

This is a joint post with Amanda Glassman.

Everyone seems to be throwing their hat into the ring in the battle against non-communicable disease (NCD), from George W. Bush to Lance Armstrong. Now it appears USAID has entered the mix as well. Despite the agency’s absence from a CGD sponsored panel discussion last week, the USAID communications department is shifting into full gear—implying that they plan to join the fight after all.