USAID NTD Program funding cut by nearly 25% in proposed FY13 budget

"The United States Government has played a major role in ensuring that patients with certain [neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)] receive urgently needed treatments through the [USAID] NTD Program, while simultaneously being the largest funder of basic research for NTDs through the National Institutes of Health," Rachel Cohen, regional executive director of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) of North America, writes in this post in the Global Health Technologies Coalition's "Breakthroughs" blog. "However, today U.S. Government funding for NTDs is under threat," as the "recently announced U.S. fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget request from the Obama Administration has slashed the USAID NTD Program budget, which was already miniscule at $89 million, by nearly 25 percent to $67 million. ... This isn't trimming the fat -- it's cutting into muscle," she adds (Lufkin, 3/28).