IDSA, HIV Medicine Association laud Congressional passage of 2019 spending bill for increased health funding

The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and the HIV Medicine Association praised last week the 2019 spending bill recently passed by the House and Senate, stating that it offers positive forward steps in combatting infectious diseases globally.

The 2019 spending bill includes an increase of $50 million in federal funding over fiscal year 2018 for a total of $4.37 billion allocated for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. This is the first increase the U.S. global HIV program has received in five years. Domestically, $18 million will be added to the Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS program funding.  

An additional $41 million will be added to the USAID global tuberculosis program to counter the estimated 4 million cases of TB going undiagnosed each year.

As fears of viral epidemics like Ebola and Zika continue to spread, however, legislators also increased funding from $72.5 million to $100 million for USAID’s global health security activities. That funding will go toward laboratory, surveillance, and health system capabilities in poorer nations, with the hope that this will help identify and control infectious disease threats before they spread.

Not every aspect of health concerns has seen increased funding, though. Both IDSA and HIVMA noted that malaria elimination efforts have seen no such increases, and called on Congress to increase funding for malaria and global health security efforts for fiscal year 2020.