White Paper

Strengthening the US Government's Role in Product Development for Global Health

Published date

February 23, 2017

U.S. government investment in developing vaccines, drugs, and other tools to combat neglected diseases and conditions has reached its lowest level since 2007, excluding emergency funds provided to combat the Ebola outbreak.  At the same time, the U.S. government remains the largest funder of global health research and development (R&D), supplying three-quarters of all government funding worldwide, which supports activities carried out by multiple government agencies and programs and through private sector, academic, and nonprofit partners. These activities are vital to generating new and improved technologies to fight the world’s deadliest diseases and prevent global epidemics.