Global Health Programs

The Global Health Programs (GHP) account funds health-related foreign assistance managed primarily by the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The Global Health Programs (GHP) account (formerly “Global Health and Child Survival”) funds health-related foreign assistance managed primarily by the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The Obama administration describes GHP as “investments that protect Americans at home and abroad, strengthen fragile states, promote social and economic progress, and support the rise of capable partners who can help to solve regional and global problems.” For all programs, resources will be targeted toward countries with the highest need, demonstrable commitment to achieving sustainable health impacts, the greatest potential to leverage U.S. government programs and platforms, as well as those of other partners and donors. Global health programming includes the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), maternal and child health and family planning/reproductive health, among others. Assistance provided through GHP is grounded in two major pieces of legislation, the Public Health Services (PHS) Act of 1944 and the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, though there are numerous other bills that impact global health programming. Most funding for global health is provided through bilateral channels. Eighty-six percent of global health funding is provided through the international affairs budget, and the State Department receives the largest share of the global health budget (51 percent), followed by USAID (28 percent) and the Department of Health and Human Services and its operating divisions (12 percent).