Health, nutrition and immunization groups press subcommittee for FY2026 funding to sustain programs
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
Witnesses from Rotary, Gavi, the Global Fund, Kiwanis, Malaria No More, Adeze Nutrition and others asked the subcommittee to restore or maintain funding for polio eradication, vaccines, malaria programs, ready-to-use therapeutic foods and maternal/neonatal tetanus efforts.
Multiple global health, nutrition and humanitarian organizations urged the House subcommittee to fund established programs in the FY2026 appropriations bill, citing public-health, economic and national-security benefits.
Why it matters: Witnesses argued that continued U.S. funding helps prevent disease importation to the United States, supports U.S. jobs through vaccine procurement and creates cost-effective returns by preventing outbreaks.
Key requests and testimony: Rotary International asked for $85,000,000 for polio eradication in FY2026; John Nanny said, "We are seeking $85,000,000 in fiscal year 20 26 to protect and further leverage the progress achieved towards ending polio." Gavi requested $340,000,000 to immunize another 500,000,000 children and expand malaria vaccine access; the Gavi representative told the committee that U.S. vaccine purchases return economic benefits to American manufacturers.
The Global Fund was represented by Friends of the Global Fight, which requested $2,000,000,000 for FY2026 as part of the Global Fund replenishment cycle and described the Fund as leveraging private and international donor matching. Malaria No More requested level funding of $795,000,000 for the bilateral malaria account and urged a $2 billion contribution to the Global Fund. Adeze Nutrition and Manna (U.S. RUTF manufacturers) highlighted supply-chain links to U.S. farmers and said ready-to-use therapeutic food can rehabilitate malnourished children quickly; Adeze said it had not received payments since October and estimated $24,000,000 outstanding.
Other requests included Kiwanis’ proposal for $2,000,000 for maternal and neonatal tetanus and $3,500,000 for iodine-deficiency programs, and Friends of the Global Fight and other advocates stressing the Global Fund’s role in pandemic preparedness and health-system strengthening.
What witnesses said about program disruptions: Several organizations said some contracts or awards tied to COVID-era or other programs were terminated or paused. Gavi said that one COVID-related contract was terminated but that it had received the money under that contract; they said they had no further information from the administration about another multi-year contract.
Ending: Witnesses asked the subcommittee to preserve or restore FY2026 funding levels for vaccines, malaria control, nutrition, and global health partnerships; committee members asked organizations to provide written documentation of terminated programs and outstanding payments.