To coincide with the U.S. presidential transition, the Institute of Medicine Committee on the U.S. Commitment to Global Health released a brief report outlining the need for the U.S. government to significantly increase its commitment to global health and for Congress to continue funding research for global health. See press release here.
The Institute of Medicine - with the support of four U.S. government agencies and five private foundations - formed an independent committee to examine the United States' commitment to global health and to articulate a vision for future U.S. investments and activities in this area. The report recommends that the new administration highlight health as a pillar of U.S. foreign policy and stressed that investments in global health and global health research will have significant long-term diplomatic, economic and security benefitis for the U.S. The report provides specific recommendations as to how the incoming leadership can demonstrate its commitment to global health and highlights that "America's traditional strength in the global health field is its capacity to generate knowledge."
A more complete exploration of this vision - including the role of the commercial sector, foundations, academia and non-governmental organizations - was released May 20, 2009.