U.S. Must Sustain Global Health Funding Despite Economic Challenges, Panelists Say at Capitol Hill Forum
The U.S. must sustain funding in global health initiatives aimed at reducing the spread of communicable and chronic diseases, such as tuberculosis, despite domestic and global economic issues, panelists said recently at a Capitol Hill briefing, CQ HealthBeat reports.
The forum, sponsored by Families USA and Research!America, examined the consequences of the spread of disease on the health, economy and national security of the U.S. According to the panelists, maintaining and increasing U.S. foreign assistance is an economic responsibility, a national security issue and a moral imperative. Thomas Frieden, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene commissioner, said treating one drug-resistant TB case in New York could cost $100,000, compared with $10 per person to prevent the spread of the strain in the Indian city in which it originated. Frieden said the U.S. is "not investing in the right aid portfolio" and needs to improve targeted aid allocation to develop better disease interventions. Samuel Stanley, vice chancellor for research at Washington University in St. Louis, added that there is "an economic benefit" to biomedical research, which "may be the key" to the economic future of the U.S.
According to Stanley, the U.S. must sustain global health funding because "infectious diseases know no borders." He added that increased air travel, high population density and environmental changes have increased the risk of the rapid spread and migration of disease. "We are in an arms race" with disease microbes, Stanley said, adding that improving diagnostics, collaboration and interventions are critical to preventing infectious disease pandemics. According to the panelists, U.S. global health funding should focus on implementation, evaluation and staff resources, particularly in developing countries (Semnani, CQ HealthBeat, 11/21).
