In a few hours, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, will hold a “mark-up” on its FY2011 funding bill.  This is the first tangible step in Congress’s decision-making process for U.S. funding for all our State Department and foreign assistance programs across the globe. 

A “mark-up” is the process in which a committee – or this case subcommittee – meets and actually writes legislation.  The committee has an underlying bill that members debate and amend.  Committee members take votes (sometimes by voice, sometimes by roll call) approving and disapproving amendments, and then the overall measure.  This is the first step in a long process, but it’s an important one that lays the groundwork for any bill to move through Congress.

The bill which they will consider and likely pass today,  is expected to be at least $4 billion less than what President Obama has proposed in his budget.  The Policy Center will be monitoring the outcome of this markup closely and will provide analysis in the following weeks.

In the natural course of how Congress works, the next step once the subcommittee passes the bill, is consideration by the full Appropriations Committee and then to the floor of the House of Representatives.  The Senate has a similar process, and as of now, it’s likely they will “mark-up” their version of the foreign operations spending bill sometime in July.  The Senate has a similar committee process for getting a bill to the Senate floor.  After both the House and Senate have approved their seperate measures, leaders from the two Houses meet to hammer out the differences.  Finally, the agreed upon language/funding amounts are made into a final bill which is then taken back to the floor of the House and the floor of the Senate, debated, passed, and then sent to the President where he will either sign it, or veto the measure.

So the long process has just begun and again, we’ll be following the process closely and providing our readers with updates along the way.

News today in the Daily Nation about concerns over how Kenya funds its efforts to fight disease, especially malaria.

The sources of funding are often debated but it is important that there is a balance between outside sources and internal ones as we work together to defeat malaria.

Malaria received $585 Million at the Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations bill markup on June 17th.  Essentially, this represents a good start. 

The President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) expected to receive $500 Million in 2010 and it appears that we have reached that threshold.  This increase of roughly $200 Million represents an approximate increase of 36% in malaria funding and it lines up with what the President asked for in his budget request.

This demonstrates solid commitment on the part of the White House and Congress for malaria and in this economic climate should be viewed as a positive.  This does not include any money malaria would receive from the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies.  

The next steps are for funding to be approved by the full Appropriations Committee and then the Senate will also have a run at State and Foreign Operations Funding.  Finally, the Appropriations bill will go to a conference to work out any differences between the House and the Senate. 

However, the Global Fund received $700 Million in funding, that represents a lower figure than what was expected (the expectation was $900 Million). Obviously, this is a disappointment, but work is already underway to increase the level of funding in the Senate.  Additionally, we expect another $300 Million from the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies. 

Also, the war supplemental, which includes $100m for the Global Fund, just passed the Senate – which was the last hurdle for the bill.  This enables the U.S. to go to the G8 with this under its belt to encourage the other countries to step up, as well.

New evidence that malaria cases are on the rise in Uganda simply reminds us that malaria is not taking a vacation as we determine how to fund the programs that fight the disease.

We have the tools to end malaria deaths, insecticide treated bed nets, targeted spraying and new medicines, and we must ensure that these tools are put into place and used.

As Congress continues to debate funding of programs that are doing just that, Americans need to stand up and remind our elected leaders that we can end malaria and should lead the world in efforts to do it.

With the passing of the 2009 Supplemental Appropriations, Friends of the Global Fight is praising Congress for the addition of some $100 million for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. This is great news for anti malaria efforts as the Global Fund plays such a critical role in defeating disease around the world.

According to Friends, the funds will save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and we join them in applauding Congress for the move.

As the 2010 budget is considered by Congress, malaria programs are well accounted for but we must remain vocal over support for the Global Fund.

“With this budget we are pleased the White House has reaffirmed it’s commitment to fighting malaria,” said Wendy Taylor, Senior Vice President of Global Advocacy at the Malaria Policy Center. “We remain concerned that the Global Fund, which does critical work to end disease, is not fully supported and will work with Congress and the Administration to ensure that all of our efforts are fully equipped to take on the challenges of our day.”

Wendy Taylor, Senior Vice President of Global Advocacy at the Malaria Policy Center, commented “The White House has reaffirmed it’s commitment to fighting malaria.  Ending malaria is a key part of improving maternal and child health worldwide and the President’s budget request for malaria is an important step in reaching the goal of ending deaths by this devastating disease.” 

The White House statement emphasizes the need to stregthen health systems and recognizes the challenging issues facing the Malaria community and other global health partners.  The President recognized the positive progress we have made in fighting various diseases including HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria and vowed to continue that fight. 

As there are a number of varying viewpoints on the budget request and what it means for the global health community, the Malaria Policy Center will continue to monitor the process as it makes its way through Congress.

Malaria No More’s Kate Campana was highlighted in the Financial Times today on NetGuarantee, program to provide bridge funding for projects waiting on promised money.

This is another example of innovation in the face of this disease. It is efforts like these that will make malaria no more.