Featured GHC News & Events

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  Advocacy Update
  Below is a summary of our full advocacy update.

GHC Announces Next Session in Advocacy Update Webinar Series
On Wednesday, August 7 from 12:00-1:00 PM EDT, GHC's Advocacy team will host the next session in the GHC Advocacy Update webinar series. The purpose of this webinar series is to share timely intelligence and key messages from the global health advocacy community. These webinars are especially helpful for individuals who live or work “outside the beltway” but all are welcome to join. The upcoming session will feature special guests from our membership who will give updates on the UHC HLM, Global Fund replenishment, and upcoming U.S. presidential election. RSVP to attend today. We hope you can join us!

Congress Reaches Agreement on a Two-Year Budget Deal
In late July, U.S. congressional leaders and the White House came to an agreement on a two-year deal that would suspend the debt ceiling until July 31, 2021 and lift spending caps on discretionary spending, avoiding automatic spending cuts imposed by the 2011 Budget Control Act. The 2019 Bipartisan Budget Act paves the way for Congress to finish work on the FY 2020 appropriations bills.

The budget deal raises spending caps by $324 billion over the next two fiscal years, with discretionary spending rising from $1.32 trillion in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 to $1.37 trillion and $1.375 trillion in FY 2020 and 2021 respectively. It is expected that Congress will use the increase in nondefense spending to fill existing funding gaps for programs such as the 2020 census, so the FY 2020 State and Foreign Operations bill is unlikely to see a huge increase over FY 2019. Read more in the full advocacy update.

Senate Committee Holds Hearing on Ebola Outbreak in DRC
On July 24, the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held another hearing on the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Senior agency officials from the Department of State, USAID, and the CDC appeared before the committee to provide an update on the outbreak and the response.Read more in the full advocacy update.

On the same day of the hearing, USAID announced an additional $38 million would be made available for the response, including $15 million for WHO. This brings the total U.S. response to $136 million.

Engel and McCaul Introduce Global Fund Resolution
Chairman Eliot Engel (D-NY) and Ranking Member Michael McCaul (R-TX) introduced the first ever resolution on the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in late July. The resolution, H.Res.517, reaffirms the United States’ commitment to the Global Fund, sending a positive signal to other donors ahead of the Global Fund’s sixth replenishment in October. The House earlier this year approved a $1.56 billion contribution in its FY 2020 State and Foreign Operations appropriations bill. A similar resolution is expected in the Senate after the August recess.

House Resolution Introduced to Recognize the Importance of Frontline Health Workers
On June 27, Representatives Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) introduced a resolution (H.Res. 467) to recognize the importance of frontline health workers in combating humanitarian and global health crises. The resolution, closely aligned with previous iterations, emphasizes the many ways health workers contribute to national security efforts and economic prosperity in the U.S. Additionally, the resolution highlights the frequency in attacks health workers in communities of conflict faced in 2018, as reported in a new publication released by the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition.

 
  Global Health Roundup

NEWS BITES

• July 2: Our President and Executive Director Loyce Pace was quoted in a Devex article on the tricky path to achieving UHC. Loyce comments on the need for governments to commit funding and resources in order for the agreement to be implemented. The piece also quotes Shannon Kowalski of the International Women’s Health Coalition and Jacob Hughes of Management Sciences for Health.
   
• July 8: The USAID-funded STAR Project is partnering with the  Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) to accept applications for its Collaboration Laboratory. The opportunity will pair academic institutions working towards a concrete goal or objective around global health. Applications are due by August 9.
   
• July 9: The African Young Women Leaders Fellowship Programme, a partnership between the African Union Commission and the United Nations Development Programme, is looking for 20 young African women to be part of their year-long fellowship. Applications are due on August 19.
   
• July 9: Ms. Magazine did a feature on the White Ribbon Alliance’s What Women Want campaign for their Summer 2019 issue, which highlights the grassroots origin of the effort of women and girls to share their needs for reproductive and maternal healthcare services.
   
• July 11: Registration is now open for Innovate4AMR, a student competition from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health with support of WHO. Students are invited to submit innovative solutions to antimicrobial resistance. Proposals are due by September 16.
   
• July 12: Bread for the World held its advocacy summit on Capitol Hill from June 10-11 where over 300 people showed up to advocate for global nutrition. Collectively, this group made around 200 U.S. congressional office visits.

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