White House Proposes 9% Increase in Global-Health Funding

The proposal was accompanied by the release of a set of ambitious targets to be achieved by 2014, including getting 1.6 million more people into drug treatment for HIV/AIDS, cutting the prevalence of malaria by 50%, and reducing the number of deaths of mothers and children under 5 years old.

Some AIDS and other health advocacy groups said the amounts the administration was asking for weren't sufficient for it to achieve the goals it has laid out. Of particular concern was a small proposed increase in spending for HIV/AIDS programs for the second year in a row.

President Barack Obama's request totals $9.6 billion for funds for the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Defense Department, the White House said. That compares with $8.8 billion enacted for fiscal 2010.

The bulk of the requested funding, about $7 billion, is for the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the massive program launched by President Bush in 2003. That includes $5.74 billion for bilateral HIV/AIDS programs, a $1 billion contribution to the Global Fund and $251 million for bilateral tuberculosis programs. That compares with $6.8 billion in fiscal 2010, including $5.54 billion for bilateral HIV/AIDS programs, $1.05 billion for the Global Fund, and $246 million for TB.

While the requested contribution to the Global Fund is less than the amount given last year, it is $100 million more than the amount requested last year, officials said.

The new global health initiative reiterated the administration's pledge to put more than four million people on HIV/AIDS drug therapy and prevent more than 12 million new HIV infections by 2014.


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