In December 2007, Congress passed the Omnibus Appropriations bill for 2008, allocating $6.5 billion for global health, an increase of $1.4 billion from the year before. During the appropriations process, Congressman Donald Payne and Senator Sherrod Brown both requested information from the FXB Center to help introduce amendments in their respective houses of Congress to increase funding for tuberculosis control programs, from $90 million to $153 million.

In the spring of 2008, the House and Senate both addressed the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). During the drafting of the legislation, the FXB Center was asked to participate in discussions and offer expertise on food security, community health workers (CHWs), and funding levels. In July 2008, Congress passed the bill — which included significant language in support of food and CHWs in the treatment of HIV/AIDS — committing $48 billion over the next five years.

On July 30, President Bush signed the PEPFAR reauthorization bill into law. Now, as the 2009 appropriations process gets underway, members of Congress will be working to make sure that the commitments made in the PEPFAR legislation are fully funded.

Since its introduction by Senator Richard Durbin in the spring of 2007, the African Health Capacity Investment Act has been an important focus for the FXB Center. The legislation passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on October 9, 2007. On October 10, 2007, Congresswoman Barbara Lee introduced a companion bill in the House of Representatives.

During the PEPFAR Reauthorization, the FXB Center was a resource to the staff of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as they addressed the health worker crisis in the legislation and committee reports. The result of this endeavor was the inclusion of significant portions of the Durbin bill in the PEPFAR legislation.

The FXB Center continues to support stronger infection controls, both internationally and domestically. On June 5, 2007, Senator Sherrod Brown introduced the Comprehensive Tuberculosis Elimination Act. This legislation will enhance interagency collaboration to promote a national strategy for eliminating tuberculosis — including research and treatment strategies, as well as outlining evaluation and reporting mechanisms necessary to accomplish this goal. The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee passed the legislation on December 18, 2007, and the bill is now awaiting consideration on the Senate floor.

The FXB Center’s Policy Team continues to advance collaborative policy opportunities with Partners In Health (PIH). This year, the FXB Center held a coordination meeting with the Institute for Health and Social Justice, the advocacy and policy arm of PIH. The two organizations have worked together in advocacy and policy efforts related to most of the Congressional actions addressed during this year.

The FXB Center and PIH have also partnered with other advocacy organizations to promote various issues related to global health. One such initiative is with the Jubilee Campaign to promote the cancellation of debt for 67 countries where the ability to meet the Millennium Development Goals is significantly challenged by a crushing burden of debt owed to the United States and international financial institutions. In this effort the FXB Center and PIH joined the RFK Memorial Center, the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, amongst other. On April 15, 2008, the House passed the Jubilee Act, and on April 24, 2008, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing to review this issue. More information on the Jubilee Act is available at http://www.jubileeusa.org/canceldebtfast/07tld/cdfleavebehind.html.

The FXB Center and PIH began a new advocacy project in the summer of 2008 — joining ActionAid, Health Alliance International, Physicians for Human Rights, and RESULTS — to craft recommendations for the new Administration. The collaboration of these participating partner organizations ensures that the report will provide a unique “on the ground” perspective, and give President Obama and the 111th Congress critical insight into the future of global health and development.

The FXB Center continues to play a leading role in enabling Harvard undergraduate and graduate students to increase their involvement in domestic and international advocacy on health and human rights. The Center has helped students better understand issues of domestic and global health, including PEPFAR, the health worker shortage, and debt relief. The FXB Center is a resource for any student eager to get involved in existing campaigns around these issues. Collaborative efforts initiated by the FXB Center have engaged students from Harvard College, the School of Public Health, the Medical School, the Business School, the Graduate School of Design, and the Divinity School. The Center recently offered guidance to Harvard College student groups for an advocacy event in support of World AIDS Orphans Day.

Recently, Arlan Fuller, FXB Center Policy Director, spoke to students from all over the United States at the second annual Student Global Health Conference. Along with Brook Baker from Health GAP and Donna Barry of PIH, Arlan participated in a panel entitled “Translating Critical Understandings into Real-World Change: Policy, Action and Global Health.”