Mar 11 2013
"Although we're several days into sequestration, details about the full impact of funding cuts are still hazy," Kim Lufkin, communications officer of the Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC), writes in the group's "Breakthroughs" blog, noting, "On [March 1], the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a report [.pdf] to Congress, which details funding cuts required to offset $85 billion in the fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget." Lufkin describes some details of the report, but adds, "However, because agency heads will have discretion over how specific cuts affect their agencies, the exact implications of sequestration will be determined in the coming weeks." She then outlines "some estimates ... regarding the impact of sequestration on the agencies that support global health [research and development (R&D)]." Lufkin concludes, "Policymakers should use the upcoming budget negotiations as an opportunity to reverse sequestration and develop a long-term budget solution that protects and -- where possible -- increases funding for global health product development" (3/7).
This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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