Statement on the Obama Administration’s FY2011 Budget Request for Global Health - Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

SEATTLE -- We commend the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2011 budget request for international affairs, which includes vital support for the global health programs that represent America’s best investments for saving lives.  

Last year, we welcomed the President’s proposal for a six-year, $63 billion Global Health Initiative designed to build on the remarkable successes of U.S.-funded AIDS, TB, and malaria programs that have already saved and improved countless lives around the world. We support the Administration’s goal of providing additional medical care to underserved women and children through increased funding for maternal and child health, international family planning and reproductive health, neglected tropical diseases, nutrition, and immunizations. This funding, together with the more integrated approach to fighting disease outlined in the Global Health Initiative, will help increase access to proven, low-cost tools that can save lives and transform communities. 

While we recognize the difficult budget environment in which this budget request was crafted, we believe it is also important to continue robust support for multilateral efforts which, together with bilateral aid programs, are the most effective way to make progress in global health.

We look forward to more details in the weeks ahead, and we stand ready to work with the administration and the Congress to realize the full potential of the Global Health Initiative in future years.