An Expert Resource for Advocates and Policymakers
The FXB Center has been a source of expertise in health and human rights for both the legislative and executive branches of the U.S. government. Such opportunities for education have been helpful to policymakers as they fine-tune legislation, present information and questions at Congressional hearings, and set out strategies for moving confidently forward to improve global health programs.
Additionally, the FXB Center has helped provide students and advocates with the evidence base necessary to make compelling arguments for improved global health policy. By hosting various policy briefings, the FXB Center works to increase public awareness of current issues and debates, rallying public support for solutions to identified global health problems.
In the past year, important changes have been made in global health policy. The issues below are a sampling of global health policy and advocacy developments in which the FXB Center has been involved.
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.
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