The budget deal cut between House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and President Barack Obama calls for a 0.2 percent across-the-board cut in non-defense discretionary programs and contains further reductions for the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
In addition to the 0.2 percent cut, global HIV programs funded through the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC) would be cut $14 million for the rest of the federal fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2011, while the NIH would be subject to a $260 million reduction from current funding levels. Of this amount, $210 million is from a pro rata reduction of all institutes and centers and $50 million is from the intramural buildings and facilities account. Global family planning and reproductive health services took the biggest hit in global health with a reduction of $85 million from current funding levels.
According to a summary of the 2011 funding bill posted by the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations, the bill contains funding for global health at a level $66 million above current funding, but these budget increases appear to be unspecified.
The House of Representatives is scheduled to take up the bill on Thursday with the Senate quickly following suit, since the government is again funded on a one-week timeline. Moreover, the Senate and House are scheduled to leave for a two-week recess starting Monday.
*Update: The final FY 2011 spending bill does not include language banning DC needle-exchange programs, language that was included in the version of the bill passed in February by the House.
**Update: The 0.2 percent across the board cut translates into an overall reduction for PEFPAR of $23.2 million and a $2.1 million reduction for the Global Fund compared to FY 2010 levels.
***Update: The measure passed in both the House (260 to 167, with 59 Republicans breaking ranks to vote against the deal) and Senate (81 to 19) on Thursday. On Friday, President Obama signed it into law.
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[...] Fiscal Year 2011 budget deal takes hit at PEPFAR and NIH [...]
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[...] Speaks – Fiscal Year 2011 budget deal takes hit at PEPFAR and NIH http://sciencespeaksblog.org/2011/04/12/fiscal-year-2011-budget-deal-takes-hit-at-pepfar-and-nih/ The budget deal cut between House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and [...]
[...] In the fiscal year (FY) 2011 budget battle recently waged on the Hill, global health funding in general fared better than might have been expected, with the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program taking only a slight cut from FY 2010 levels; flat funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; and family planning and reproductive health programs getting a five percent cut. But with the FY 2012 budget proposal from the House including significant cuts to global assistance, global health programs might not fare so well in the future. [...]
[...] Speaks – Fiscal Year 2011 budget deal takes hit at PEPFAR and NIH http://sciencespeaksblog.org/2011/04/12/fiscal-year-2011-budget-deal-takes-hit-at-pepfar-and-nih/ The budget deal cut between House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and [...]
[...] http://sciencespeaksblog.org/2011/04/12/fiscal-year-2011-budget-deal-takes-hit-at-pepfar-and-nih/ [...]