In July 2012 amfAR calculated the potential impact of budget sequestration on US Government funded global health programing. That document is available at http://www.amfar.org/uploadedFiles/_amfarorg/In_The_Community/SequestrationJuly2012.pdf
This paper updates these estimates based on changes to sequestration made by Congress in January 2013. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has calculated that, as of March 1, 2013, funding for non-defense discretionary programs must be cut across the board by 5.0 percent.1 As we found in our earlier calculations, applying sequestration cuts to US government global health programming will have minimal impact on deficit reduction, but will be devastating to the lives of many thousands of people globally.
As a result of sequestration of US Government bilateral support:
- HIV/AIDS treatment for 162,200 people will not be available, potentially leading to 37,000 more AIDS-related deaths and 72,800 more children becoming orphans.
- 63,400 fewer HIV-positive pregnant women will receive services to prevent mother-to-child transmission, leading to more than 12,000 infants being infected with HIV.
- Funding for food, education, and livelihood assistance will not be available for 225,000 children.
- 1.16 million fewer insecticide-treated mosquito nets will be procured, leading to over 3,000 deaths due to malaria; 1.9 million fewer people will receive treatment.
- 35,300 fewer people with tuberculosis (TB) will receive treatment, leading to 4,200 more deaths due to TB; 190 fewer people with multidrug-resistant TB will receive treatment.
As a result of sequestration of contributions to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization:
- 789,500 fewer pentavalent vaccines for children will be available, leading to 8,400 more deaths from preventable diseases.
As a result of sequestration of contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria:
- 1.5 million fewer insecticide-treated mosquito nets will be available, leading to 4,000 deaths from malaria.
- 54,000 fewer TB patients will receive treatment, leading to more than 6,400 TB deaths.
- An additional 59,800 people will not be treated for HIV/AIDS.
amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research (amFAR), is one of the world’s leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment, education, and the advocacy of sound AIDS-related public policy. Since 1985, amfAR has invested more than $366 million in its programs and has awarded grants to more than 2,000 research teams worldwide. For more information, please visit www.amfAR.org.
1OMB. (March 1, 2013). OMB report to the Congress on the Joint Committee sequestration for Fiscal Year 2013. (p. 1) Available online at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/legislative_reports/fy13ombjcsequestrationreport.pdf