[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 45 (Tuesday, April 11, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2530-S2531]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. LEAHY (for himself, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Kerry, 
        Mr. Durbin, and Mr. Wellstone):
  S. 2387. A bill to improve global health by increasing assistance to 
developing nations with high levels of infectious disease and premature 
deaths, by improving children's and women's health and nutrition, by 
reducing unintended pregnancies, and by combating the spread of 
infectious diseases, particularly HIV/AIDS, and for other purposes; to 
the Committee on Foreign Relations.


                       GLOBAL HEALTH ACT OF 2000

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today the Foreign Operations Subcommittee 
held its third hearing on global health since 1997. Our first hearing 
was the first of its kind in the Congress, when we highlighted how 
disease outbreaks and impoverished public health systems half a world 
away directly threaten Americans. Since then, the interest in these 
issues in the Congress, the Administration, the media and the public 
has skyrocketed.
  Today, there are about a dozen pieces of legislation pending which 
deal with some aspect of global health, the President has proposed 
major increases in funding and policy initiatives to encourage the 
pharmaceutical companies to invest in new vaccines against HIV/AIDS, 
malaria, TB, and other major killers, and the World Health Organization 
is setting the pace for us all to tackle these challenges with new 
energy and new resources.
  This sea change is a reflection of the magnitude of the challenges 
and opportunities, as well as a recognition of the essential role the 
United States must play in global health.
  There is no need to recite at length what has spurred this interest, 
but I do want to cite a couple of illustrative facts:
  In America, each year we spend over $4,000 per person on health care.
  In the countries where 2 billion of the world's people live in 
desperate poverty, only $3 to $5 per person per year is spent on health 
care.
  It would cost just $15 per person per year to address most of the 
urgent health needs of those 2 billion people.
  With that $15 per person, we could prevent or cure the many millions 
of deaths caused by tuberculosis, malaria, pneumonia, diarrheal 
diseases, measles, HIV/AIDS, and pregnancy related diseases.
  That is the challenge we face. The benefits to the world, and to the 
United States, should be obvious. In an increasingly interdependent 
world, reducing the threats posed by infectious diseases and poor 
reproductive health, and the social and economic consequences of 
poverty and disease, is absolutely key to our own future security and 
prosperity.
  The Congress has become increasingly seized with these issues. 
However, while I strongly support most of the bills that have been 
introduced--and I am a cosponsor of Senator Kerry's ``Vaccines for the 
New Millennium Act,'' they have tended to focus narrowly on the 
eradication of specific diseases and the development of new vaccines.
  These are admirable and important goals, but I have always believed 
that global health consists of a broader set of issues that must be 
addressed together. Our primary challenge is to provide the resources 
to enable developing countries to build the capacity--both human and 
infrastructure, to support effective public health systems. That was 
the motivation for my infectious disease initiative three years ago, 
which since then has provided an additional $175 million to support 
programs in surveillance, anti-microbial resistance, TB, and malaria.
  Today, in an effort to build on that initiative, I am introducing new 
legislation to authorize an additional $1 billion to support five key 
components of global health. The ``Global Health Act of 2000,'' targets 
HIV/AIDS; other deadly infectious diseases such as TB, malaria, and 
measles; children's health; women's health; and family planning.
  Together, these five groups of issues account for over 80 percent of 
the disproportionate burden of disease and death borne by the 2 billion 
people living in the world's poorest countries. This legislation, an 
identical version of which Congressman Joseph Crowley has introduced in 
the House, has the strong support of the Global Health Council, the 
world's largest consortium of private and public companies and 
organizations, agencies and governments, involved in public health.

[[Page S2531]]

  We have the technology to do this. The key missing ingredient is 
political will, and resources.
  We can, and we must, recognize that we need to think in terms of far 
larger amounts of money if we are serious about global health. Every 
dollar of the additional $1 billion called for in my legislation, which 
is approximately double the amount we currently spend on these 
activities, is justified and urgently needed. And the payoff would be 
enormous, both in terms of lives saved and in future health care cost 
savings.
  Senator McConnell, the chairman of the Foreign Operations 
Subcommittee, has been a strong supporter of global health, and I will 
be working in the Appropriations Committee to obtain the funds we need 
to achieve these goals.
                                 ______