LATEST FROM DC
ON THE HILL
IN THE ADMINISTRATION
GLOBALLY
ASTMH continues to advocate before Congress and the Biden administration. Letters that ASTMH led or joined include:
- Letter to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shalanda Young underscoring the critical role of US programs that support global health research and development (R&D) and asking for continued support for this work in FY2026.
- Letter to full House of Representatives opposing the proposed 22% cut to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in fiscal year (FY) 2025 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) appropriations bill.
- Letter to world leaders urging for robust investments in the Pandemic Fund to ensure the fund is able to reach its target for new investments for 2025-2027.
- Letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power urging continued U.S. contributions to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
ON THE HILL
Congress Passes Short-Term Spending Bill, Punts FY25 Package to Post-Election
Just days away from the September 30 shutdown deadline, Congress finally
passed a stopgap spending bill, or continuing resolution (CR), that was subsequently signed by President Biden. The CR extends current government funding levels through December 20, including funding for key agencies that oversee global health programs. This means that once lawmakers return to Washington in November they will confront a bigger spending fight heading into the end of the year, which will largely be influenced by the outcome of the election. “Like most, my preference would be to pass full-year appropriations bills through regular order, but we are out of time. We cannot afford a shutdown, which would be greatly damaging to our national security, to critical government programs and to the American people,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK-4)
said in support of the CR.
Valley Fever Vaccine Development Legislation Introduced in House
Bipartisan legislation supporting the development of a vaccine against Valley Fever was recently introduced in the House. The bill,
H.R.9942, was introduced by Rep. John Duarte (R-CA) and cosponsored by Reps. Greg Stanton (D-AZ), David Schweikert (R-AZ), Jim Costa (D-CA), David Valadao (R-CA), Jill Tokuda (D) and Jay Obernolte (R-CA). AASTMH provided input last year to Congressional offices to inform the draft legislation and relay thanks to Rep. Duarte for introducing this important legislation.
SIGHT Act introduced in the Senate
Sen. Cory Booker (N-NJ), a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and chair of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, introduced the Supporting Innovative Global Health Technologies (SIGHT) Act of 2023 (
S.5278). The bill empowers USAID to boost its global health R&D capabilities to support health care technology innovation in low and middle income countries. The senate bill is a companion to
H.R.6424, introduced by Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), María Elvira Salazar (R-FL27) and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA06) in November 2023. ASTMH has been working with the Global Health Technologies Coalition on advancing this legislation and thanks Sen. Booker for introducing this legislation.
Risky Research Review Act Clears Senate Committee
On September 25, the Risky Research Review Act (
S. 4667) advanced out of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee by a vote of 8-1. The legislation, originally introduced by committee Ranking Member Rand Paul (R-KY), establishes new federal oversight of life sciences research. Among its provisions, the bill defines high-risk life sciences research and creates a new Life Sciences Research Security Board that would serve as an independent body charged with evaluating high-risk life sciences research proposals seeking federal funding, including gain-of-function research. The bill also prohibits federal agencies from awarding funding for high-risk life sciences research without board approval.
E&C Calls for NIH Reform in Wake of Research Misconduct at NIH
Following an
investigation of research misconduct at NIH, House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Subcommittee on Health Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued a
statement expressing concern over the findings and further reinforcing the need for the reforming the NIH as previously
proposed by E&C. “While Republicans have historically championed the NIH, these types of misconduct—coupled with the agency’s lack of cooperation throughout our ongoing COVID-19, MPXV and sexual harassment investigations—make it difficult to continue such robust support,” said the Chairs.
Key Global Health Nominations Delayed
The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (SFRC)
postponed a planned September 25 markup to consider of a slew of pending nominations by the Biden administration, including for key global health leaders. This included Dr. John N. Nkengasong for Ambassador-At-Large for Global Health Security and Diplomacy and Dr. Vivek Hallegere Murthy to serve as a of Representative of the United States on the Executive Board of the World Health Organization, among others. A new hearing date has not yet been announced. ASTMH will continue to monitor for new developments.
IN THE ADMINISTRATION
White House Report Highlights Implementation of Scientific Integrity Policies, Including NIH
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OST) recently released a
report providing a status update on various scientific integrity policies pending across the federal government. In the report, OSTP noted that 19 federal agencies updated or issued new policies aimed at strengthening scientific integrity, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), that focuses on ensuring that decisions made by the agency are science-driven, rather than dictated by a political agenda. The NIH policy can be found
here and includes the establishment of a new Scientific Integrity Council that will be led by Lyric Jorgenson, PhD, Associate Director for Science Policy and the Director of the Office of Science Policy at NIH.
NIH and PEPFAR Launch Joint Effort to Advance HIV Priorities
The U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the U.S. Bureau of Global Health Security, the NIH Office of AIDS Research and the Center for Global Health Studies at the Fogarty International Center
announced a new joint initiative to advance HIV research priorities. The Local Implementation Science Network (LISN) aims to strengthen in-country implementation science (IS) capacity building through strong multi-sector collaborations and local alliance development. The network will operate in sub-Saharan African countries with PEPFAR Country Operational Plans as of 2024 More background and the call for applications can be found
here.
ARPA-H Tackles Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) with Generative AI
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) recently
announced funding for a new project, Transforming Antibiotic R&D with Generative AI to stop Emerging Threats (TARGET). The program, led by Phare Bio, the Collins Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard’s Wyss Institute, will utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate the development and discovery of new classes of antibiotics. “The rise of antibiotic resistance threatens to turn once-treatable infections into life-threatening ones, but with AI, we can accelerate the discovery of new antibiotics to address this threat like never before,” said ARPA-H Director Dr. Renee Wegrzyn. “With TARGET, ARPA-H is bringing together experts across antibiotic discovery, AI and clinical testing to ensure we can refill the global pipeline of antibiotics and stop people from becoming seriously ill due to treatable infections.”
GLOBALLY
G20 Joint Statement on Mpox Outbreak Response
Following calls for assistance from the Africa CDC and WHO, the G20 Joint Finance and Health Ministers recently
adopted a statement on the global response to the mpox outbreak. The statement underscores how the mpox outbreak has disproportionately impacted children and how those living with HIV/AIDS are experiencing worst outcomes. It also highlights the importance of strengthening pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPR) activities; promoting health equity; supporting the WHO and the World Bank in developing a global mpox response financing tracker; and identifying specific funding gaps among other efforts. The G20 Joint Finance and Health Ministers intend to further discuss the mpox outbreak at the upcoming meeting on October 31 in Rio de Janeiro.
WHO Launches Global Plan to Fight Rising Dengue
The WHO recently unveiled a new global
strategy to address surging cases of dengue, as well as the prevalence of other
Aedes-borne arboviruses such as Zika and chikungunya. The plan seeks to control transmission of these diseases in affected countries and centers around five key components: emergency coordination, collaborative surveillance, community protection, safe and scalable care, and access to countermeasures. The plan will be implemented until September 2025 and requires $55 million USD in support. More background can be found
here.
UNGA Holds Second High-Level Meeting on AMR
In September, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) convened its second high-level meeting on AMR in New York. The international declaration that emerged from the meeting importantly recognizes that AMR is “one of the most urgent global health threats and development challenges” and necessitates “immediate action.” Through the declaration, political leaders committed to a series of measures to fight AMR including: reducing the number of deaths from bacterial AMR by 10% by 2030; adopting national action plans that tackle AMR through a One Health approach; establishing an independent panel to help strengthen the global evidence base for AMR; reducing the use of antibiotics in agri-food by 2030; and promoting sustainable financing, with a particular focus on low-and middle-income countries. The full declaration can be found
here.