U.S. proposes continued support for TB prevention, but proposes 28% cut to foreign aid budget

American President Donald Trump’s first budget proposes 28% cuts to foreign aid through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the State Department, and the United Nations.

The draft budget, released on 16 March 2017, proposes continued support for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR); the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; and to Gavi (the Vaccine Alliance). The aim to continue malaria and tuberculosis (TB) prevention programs comes a week before World Tuberculosis Day celebrated on 24 March each year.

Tuberculosis is now the fifth most common cause of death globally, said the World Health Organization (WHO) on 13 October 2016 – below heart disease, stroke, lower respiratory infections, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The WHO said that TB, an airborne disease, had an estimated 10.4 million new cases in 2015 and killed 1.8 million of them. For the second year in a row TB is the world’s top infectious disease killer, surpassing HIV/AIDS. In 2015, about 1.1 million people died from HIV/AIDS, with 400,000 of them co-infections of TB and HIV/AIDS.

The 2018 budget requests $25.6 billion in funding for the Department of State and USAID, which is a $10.1 billion reduction from the previous year. The draft budget includes language indicating a closer relationship between the two departments, saying the budget "recognizes the need for State and USAID to pursue greater efficiencies through reorganization and consolidation in order to enable effective diplomacy and development."

The draft budget does allow for “significant funding of humanitarian assistance, including food aid, disaster, and refugee program funding,” but no specific figures are provided. The draft budget proposes eliminating the Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance account. The draft budget also includes capping contributions to U.N. peacekeeping to no more than 25%.

The U.S. draft budget proposes abolishing a number of independent agencies, including the U.S. African Development Foundation; the U.S. Trade and Development Agency; the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC); and the United States Institute of Peace (USIP).

There is yet to be a debate in Congress about the level of the cuts to foreign aid, which may mean that the budget is unlikely to pass in its proposed form. Senior Republicans, such as Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, and Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, may oppose severe cuts to the foreign aid budget. Secretary-General António Guterres has called the proposed budget "complex and lengthy."

The draft budget, which is called “America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again” has asked for a $54 billion increase in defense spending. This budget is an outline of his policy priorities and are recommendations for Congress, which ultimately makes decisions about government spending. This proposed budget would take effect on 1 October 2017, only after approval by Congress.

https://www.devex.com/news/trump-s-america-first-budget-slashes-foreign-aid-multilateral-funding-89850?

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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