News: Announcement

The Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC) is deeply concerned over President Trump’s fiscal year (FY) 2019 budget proposal, which includes significant cuts to critical government programs that advance innovation to improve the health of millions of people in need around the world, including Americans. The United States has long led the world in developing vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, and other technologies for neglected diseases and conditions that affect the world’s most vulnerable people, and the President’s budget proposal threatens to undermine this scientific and humanitarian legacy.  The proposal cuts funding to global health research and development (R&D) at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and National Institutes of Health (NIH). If enacted, these cuts will hamper the creation of new tools to address the world’s greatest global health challenges and undermine our ability to prevent and contain disease outbreaks. For example: Across the board cuts for USAID global health programs, including the elimination of funding to support HIV/AIDS research, represent a backslide in US humanitarian leadership and threaten to slow the creation and roll out of new health innovations that both save lives worldwide and make our foreign aid programs more effective and efficient. Cuts to CDC’s global health activities at the Center for Global Health (CGH) and the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID) will further constrain an agency already under-resourced to address the magnitude of health challenges we face at home and internationally. While GHTC is pleased to see the Administration prioritize investment in global health security, this increased funding should not come at the expense of other vital CGH programs that support R&D of technologies and other activities to detect, prevent, and respond to health threats. Likewise, proposed cuts to NCEZID programs that develop interventions to combat infectious diseases run counter to the Administration’s global health security goals and will directly compromise domestic and international preparedness. Cuts to the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the Fogarty International Center at NIH could erode America’s leadership in medical research and jeopardize important work to build research capacity in partner nations to fight global diseases. While GHTC is encouraged to see the Administration did not propose eliminating the Fogarty Center, as it did last year, it is important to ensure the center's activities are fully funded. “The United States is a leader in research and development that drives biomedical solutions to the world’s most pressing health challenges—benefiting Americans at home and populations in need overseas,” said Jamie Bay Nishi, GHTC’s Director. “Funding cuts to global health R&D programs at USAID, CDC, and NIH cede this leadership, retreat from humanitarian values that define us as a nation, and leave Americans and the world vulnerable to longstanding and emerging health threats.” GHTC was pleased to see Congress reject similar cuts proposed by the Administration last year, and we urge Congress to continue its history of bipartisan support for global health and medical research and once again reject these proposed cuts.

The Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC) welcomes yesterday’s passage by the US House of Representatives of the Global Health Innovation Act (H.R. 1660), a bipartisan bill that will strengthen efforts by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to develop lifesaving drugs, vaccines, and other health technologies for people in need around the world. This legislation, introduced by Representatives Albio Sires (NJ-8) and Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25) and long championed by GHTC, aims to improve the effectiveness of current USAID health research programming by requiring the agency report annually to Congress on its health-related research and development (R&D) activities and articulate how it sets strategic goals and measures impact. The bill also directs USAID to report how it is working through public-private partnerships and with donors and other US agencies to magnify the impact of its investments and accelerate the development of urgently needed tools. “USAID is an under-recognized powerhouse in developing new technologies to advance the health of people in the world’s poorest places,” said Jamie Bay Nishi, director of GHTC. “By enhancing monitoring, transparency, and oversight, this bill will help USAID continue its leadership in global health research and will help the agency and partners measure progress and identify gaps to more efficiently and effectively advance its mission and save more lives worldwide.” Despite tremendous progress in global health over the past two decades, millions of people still suffer or die each year because we do not have the right tools to combat long-standing and emerging health threats. New drugs, vaccines, diagnostics, and other health tools are urgently needed, but progress cannot be made without sustained investment in R&D. For decades, USAID has supported the development, introduction, and scale up of low-cost, high-impact technologies to address the health needs of poor and vulnerable populations worldwide.The agency’s deep international footprint, combined with its in-depth understanding of community needs and cultures, uniquely positions the agency to support product development for tools that are appropriate and affordable for use in low-resource settings. USAID has helped advance 22 new lifesaving global health technologies introduced since 2000—including a low-cost meningitis vaccine and the first child-friendly malaria medicine—and is supporting 36 promising products now in late-stage development. “US investments in global health research deliver significant returns, not only saving millions of lives around the world, but also paying dividends for America by strengthening our economy, saving money, and improving our national security," said Nishi. “I want to thank Representatives Sires and Diaz-Balart as well as other members who supported the Global Health Innovation Act for championing America’s continued leadership in global health R&D through agencies like USAID.”   ### The Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC) works to save and improve lives by encouraging the research and development of essential health technologies. We are a coalition of more than 25 nonprofit organizations advancing policies to accelerate the creation of new drugs, vaccines, diagnostics, and other health tools that bring health lives within reach for all people. GHTC is housed at PATH.  

Esteemed leaders from across the US government, industry, and the global health and medical research communities gathered at the Newseum in Washington, DC yesterday for GHTC’s Innovating for Impact Awards to celebrate US commitment to global health research and development (R&D) and honor Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) and Congressman Tom Cole (R-OK) for their congressional leadership on this issue. GHTC also recognized the partnership that developed the dapivirine microbicide ring—a woman-centered HIV prevention tool—for its efforts to advance this groundbreaking new technology. GHTC honored Congressman Cole with a Congressional Champion Award, recognizing his leadership— as Chairman of the House, Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee—in championing key US agencies engaged in global health R&D, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC). In his acceptance remarks, Congressman Cole emphasized the importance of US leadership in this field: “We have capacities and capabilities that quite honestly no one else in the world has….Others will help, others want to help, but they have to have us in this area to lead because we have the resources, the talent, and the technological expertise.” He noted the value of global health research from both a practical and humanitarian perspective. “You represent a cause that fundamentally is absolutely the right thing for this country to be doing…but it’s also the smart thing to do….Disease is an awfully expensive thing, and I see the payback for this,” he said. View video honoring Congressman Tom Cole.  GHTC also honored Senator Coons with a Congressional Champion Award for his longstanding commitment to US global health initiatives and championing the role of R&D and innovation in furthering their impact. “Whether it’s eradicating malaria, whether it’s sustaining our progress against HIV/AIDS…whether it’s making real progress in understanding the core causes of disease here and then exporting that, I’m convinced that investments in R&D will be returned and repaid many, many times over,” Senator Coons emphasized in accepting his award. He stressed that “by investing proactively in R&D…we will continue to push back on disease and advance the boundaries of human kindness, of human health, and of human prosperity.” View video honoring Senator Chris Coons. Dr. Zeda Rosenberg, founder and chief executive officer of the International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM), accepted the Partnership Award on behalf of the many industry, government, and nonprofit partners who supported the development of the dapivirine microbicide ring—a monthly vaginal microbicide ring that delivers antiretroviral drugs. As the first long-acting HIV prevention product designed specifically for women, the dapivirine ring is poised to be the next breakthrough tool in the fight against HIV/AIDS. “It was a partnership from start to finish,” Dr. Rosenberg said in discussing how these various organizations came together to develop a tool to serve the needs of women at high risk of HIV/AIDS. Dr. Rosenberg emphasized the value of these multisector partnerships in bringing critically needed health technologies to market. “The HIV/AIDS epidemic is such a challenge that the only way we will be able to control this epidemic long-term is through partnership,” she underscored. View video honoring the dapivirine microbicide ring. Dr. Rosenberg was joined onstage by David Stanton, Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Global Health at USAID, and Jami Taylor, Senior Director of Global Public Health Systems Policy and Partnerships at Johnson & Johnson, for a short dialogue discussing the role of the US government, Johnson & Johnson, IPM, and other partners in advancing development of the dapivirine ring. Attendees also heard from Jamie Bay Nishi, director of GHTC, and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), who welcomed attendees to the event via video. Dr. Tom Friedan, former Director of the CDC and current President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, also spoke about the power of multisector partnerships in advancing R&D and what actions are needed to tackle emerging global health threats. Among the distinguished guests in attendance were: Dr. Rima Khabbaz, Director of the Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases at CDC; Dr. Rebecca Martin, Director for the Center for Global Health at CDC; Dr. Roger Glass, Director of the NIH Fogarty International Center; Dr. Carl Dieffenbach, Director of the Division of AIDS at the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH; Mary Fogarty McAndrew, daughter of John E. Fogarty for whom the Fogarty International Center is named; David Milestone, Acting Director of the Center for Accelerating Innovation and Impact (CII) at USAID; and numerous other nonprofit, private sector, and government leaders. The Innovating for Impact Awards were created by GHTC to mark both the organization’s 10th anniversary and honor the multisector partnerships and policymakers helping transform breakthrough scientific research into lifesaving drugs, diagnostics, vaccines, and other health tools for unmet global health challenges. This year’s award selection committee included Holly Wong [chair], Vice President of the Global Health Advocacy Incubator and former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs at the US Department of Health and Human Services; Carolyn Reynolds, Vice President of Policy and Advocacy at PATH; Wendy Taylor, former Director of CII; Gavin Yamey, Director of the Center for Policy Impact in Global Health at Duke University; and GHTC Director Jamie Bay Nishi.

What do the near eradication of polio, a halving of child deaths in the past two decades, and the transformation of AIDS from a death sentence to a treatable condition all have in common? They resulted from new global health innovations and the partnerships and policies that made their creation possible! Who are the drivers of these global health breakthroughs? And how are research partnerships and political will for global health research and development (R&D) essential to delivering innovative, game-changing drugs, vaccines, diagnostics and other tools that save lives around the world? The Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC) is leading a new Innovating for Impact Awards initiative to celebrate the research partnerships and political champions that help transform breakthrough scientific research into lifesaving drugs, diagnostics, vaccines, and other health tools for devastating, unmet global health challenges. GHTC has launched a call for nominations for these awards, which will be open until September 20, 2017. Awards will be presented in two categories: The PARTNERSHIP AWARD will celebrate an innovative research and development (R&D) partnership that brings together industry, government, nonprofits, academia, or other partners to advance a high-impact and game-changing global health technology. At least one partner must be a US-based organization. The CONGRESSIONAL CHAMPION AWARD will honor two US Members of Congress whose actions have strengthened political will and advanced US efforts to develop technologies to fight the world’s most challenging diseases and health conditions. Awardees will be editorially selected by a committee of leaders from the global health and research communities. Honorees will be celebrated at a recognition event in Washington, DC before an audience of policymakers, US government officials, media, and leaders of the global health and medical research communities.