Global Health Policy

Global health has not figured prominently in the US presidential campaigns so far. Jobs and the economy are the major issues, and the weak growth in new jobs from the most recent report has done nothing to change that. And like all recent Presidential elections, this one is likely to be determined by voters in a small number of swing states.

Next week some 20,000 AIDS activists, practitioners and researchers from around the world will pour into Washington, DC to discuss new research and technologies at the International AIDS Conference (IAC). Meanwhile, fifteen blocks away on Capitol Hill, US policy makers will be grappling with policy issues that could have a significant impact on billions of dollars in global HIV/AIDS funding, of which the United States is by far the largest provider.

Family planning is back with a bang, thanks to this week’s London Summit. The event, several months in the making, was the brainchild of the UK government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in partnership with the UNFPA. According to early reports, the Summit was a resounding success, raising $4.6 billion in commitments from government donors, NGOs, and international foundations. With these funds, donors have pledged to provide access to contraceptives for an additional 120 million women and girls, which they believe could prevent 200,000 maternal deaths, and stop 3 million infants from dying in their first year of life.

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.