United States Government Support For The Fight Against HIV/AIDS

• The Bush Administration has requested a total of $1.117 billion in Fiscal Year 2003 (including $200 million for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria) for U.S. international spending to combat HIV/AIDS. This is a 13.1% increase over FY02 ($988 million) and a 53.9% increase over FY01 ($726 million).

• The President has announced a new $500 million International Mother and Child HIV Prevention Initiative that seeks to prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS from mothers to infants and improve health care delivery in Africa and the Caribbean. The Administration is presently working with Congress to direct $200 million this fiscal year to the initiative, and will request an additional $300 million in the FY 04 budget.

• U.S. bilateral international assistance for HIV/AIDS programs is channeled mostly through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Departments of Defense (DOD) and Labor (DOL).

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID):

• In FY03, the HIV/AIDS budget of USAID will reach $540 million, a 24% increase over the FY02 budget of $435 million.
• USAID’s HIV/AIDS strategy comprises six components: prevention; care, treatment and support; working with children affected by AIDS; surveillance; encouraging other donor countries and organizations; and engaging national leaders.
• USAID resources for field programs will rise to $389 million in FY02. This amount is twice what was spent in FY01 and represents 78% of USAID’s FY02 budget for HIV/AIDS programs. The vast majority of USAID's HIV/AIDS field assistance goes to non-governmental organizations that have direct connections to the poorest of the poor and those most vulnerable to infection.

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS):

• In FY02, HHS will spend a total of $343 million on bilateral international HIV/AIDS programs, including research, surveillance, interventions and evaluation. Of that total, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) will spend $155 million and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and will spend $188 million on research. In FY03, the total amount for HHS is expected to increase to $377 million including $155 million for CDC and $222 million for NIH.
• The elements of CDC's Global AIDS Program (GAP) are primary prevention; surveillance and infrastructure development; and care, support, and treatment.

Departments of Defense and Labor:

• The Department of Labor focuses on targeting the workplace for prevention education and strengthening the response to HIV/AIDS by providing technical assistance to government, employees and labor leaders. These projects take place in 17 countries.
• The Department of Defense (DOD) works with African militaries on HIV/AIDS education programs.

Research and development programs have direct benefits for the international community in the form of new drugs and other medical and scientific advances. In FY02, the U.S. will spend $2.62 billion on HIV/AIDS research. For FY03, this amount is expected to increase by 9.3% to $2.86 billion.

• HHS is the largest public sector investor in HIV/AIDS research in the world. In FY02, NIH will spend its $188 million international HIV/AIDS budget on research outside the U.S. The CDC will spend approximately 7% of its HIV/AIDS budget on international HIV/AIDS research in and FY02.
• The DOD runs a Military HIV Prevention and Treatment Research program to research HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment protocols. This includes extensive vaccine research.
• In FY01 and FY02, USAID has spent almost 6% of its HIV/AIDS budget on vaccine research and development of microbicides.

The U.S. is an active participant in and supporter of the newly established Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The U.S. has made the largest pledge, $500 million, to the Fund: $100 million in the FY01 budget, $200 million in FY02 budget and $200 million requested in the President’s proposed FY03 budget. Of the nearly $2.1 billion pledged to the Fund to date, $700 to $800 million is expected to be available for disbursement this year. Of this $700 to $800 million, the U.S. is expected to contribute $300 million.