Senate foreign operations bill sustains strong investments in malaria programs, but more funding is needed as malaria fight reaches critical crossroads

The Senate Appropriations Committee advanced with bipartisan support a Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) international affairs bill that sustains strong funding levels for the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI); The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria; and other global health programs that are critical to the malaria fight, including the World Health Organization UNICEF, and the Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

The bill – proposed by the Senate’s State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Subcommittee (SFOPS) – includes:

• Level funding ($795 million) for PMI;
• Full funding ($1.2 billion) for The Global Fund, the maximum the U.S. can contribute based on matching requirements (the U.S. can only cover up to one-third of the Global Fund’s total contributions);
• Full funding of the United Nations regular budget and an 8% increase ($474 million) in voluntary funding to vital UN agencies that are on the frontlines of the malaria fight;
• Level funding ($300 million) for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi), which plays a lead role in the rollout of the new malaria vaccines.

“On behalf of our Beat Malaria Champions and partners across the country, I would like to thank Chairman Chris Coons, Ranking Member Lindsey Graham, and the entire SFOPS subcommittee; and leadership of the Senate Appropriations – Chairwoman Patty Murray and Vice-Chairwoman Susan Collins – for your continued strong bipartisan leadership in the fight against malaria.” said United to Beat Malaria’s Executive Director Margaret McDonnell. “In a time of contentious partisan politics, the movement to end malaria continues to be a unifying cause in both the House and Senate.”

“While we applaud leaders on both sides of aisle for sustaining these life-saving investments, we call upon Congress to strengthen their support as the malaria fight reaches a critical crossroads,” Ms. McDonnell continued. “We’re entering a new era in this fight – one of new threats, but also of new opportunities. More countries than ever are on the cusp of elimination; and the pipeline of innovative malaria tools and strategies has never been stronger. The time is ripe for increased investment to reignite progress against malaria – an ancient disease that we can eradicate in our lifetimes.”

The Global Fund’s funding level falls short of the intended $2 billion U.S. pledge in accordance with Global Fund matching requirements. Additional contributions from other donors would leverage further U.S. funding and expand the Global Fund’s coverage of effective malaria prevention and control interventions, increase access to prompt diagnosis and treatment, improve data-driven decision making at sub-national levels, and improve the resilience of health systems impacted by malaria, HIV/AIDS, and Tuberculosis.

In addition, Beat Malaria Champions and partners will continue to advocate for increased PMI funding, which would scale up life-saving interventions such as insecticide-treated bed nets, indoor residual spraying, rapid diagnostic tests, and anti-malarial treatments. PMI also works to strengthen malaria-affected health systems by training health workers and scientists, improving supply chains, advancing data monitoring, promoting healthy behaviors, and more.

“This century, PMI and the Global Fund have driven progress forward in this fight, helping save over 11.7 million lives, avert over 2 billion cases, and propel over 20 countries to achieve zero malaria,” Ms. McDonnell said. “Strong investments in the Global Fund and PMI will save lives, bolster economies, empower youth, and strengthen health systems throughout the malaria-affected world,” Ms. McDonnell said.

Critically, the Senate budget bill strengthens funding for numerous UN agencies that play central roles in the malaria fight. The World Health Organization and Pan American Health Organization provide much-needed technical leadership and coordination to help countries control and eliminate the disease. Frontline agencies like UNICEF, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) work in some of the most remote and vulnerable settings, implementing malaria programs in partnership with governments, the Global Fund, PMI, and others.

To learn more about the FY25 Senate international affairs budget and its impact on global health, check out this blog post by our colleagues at the Better World Campaign.