1. ASTMH Council Meeting
May 5, 2013
Jodie Curtis, Senior Government Relations Director
Erin Will Morton, MA, Senior Government
Relations Manager

2. ASTMH Council Meeting – May 2013
ASTMH Accomplishments:
November 2012 – May 2013

3. ASTMH Council Meeting – May 2013
• Submitted public testimony on March 15, 2013, to the House
Labor, Health, and Human Services Appropriations
subcommittee regarding fiscal year 2014 requests for the
National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention
• Submitted report language to the House and Senate DoD and
LHHS subcommittees (over 40 offices) regarding research and
development within DoD, NIH, and CDC
ASTMH Advocacy: Testimony and Report Language

4. ASTMH Council Meeting – May 2013
ASTMH Advocacy
• Met with 25 Capitol Hill offices regarding budget requests for
global health and tropical medicine R&D
• Activated the ASTMH membership several times to weigh in
with policymakers on the impact of sequestration and budget
cuts to global health programs
• Sent a letter to Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA)
expressing appreciation for the introduction of H.Res. 31,
recognizing the anniversary of the cholera outbreak in Haiti
• Worked closely with the global health and foreign aid
communities to protect funding

5. ASTMH Council Meeting – May 2013
ASTMH Advocacy: Department of Defense
• Sent letters to the Secretary and Surgeons General of the Army
and Navy regarding conference attendance and meeting requests
• Met with Vice Admiral Nathan, Navy Surgeon General, on March
13, 2013
• Held a teleconference on April 4, 2013, with the office of the
Army Surgeon General
• Continue to co-chair DoD advocacy working group with the
Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC)
• Organized a teleconference with Dr. Alan McGill to discuss
DoD budget and infectious disease research and development
• Organized a teleconference with Col. Pete Weina at WRAIR to
learn more about WRAIR operations and research priorities

6. ASTMH Council Meeting – May 2013
DoD Hearing – April 24
• Testimony from Vice Admiral Matthew L.
Nathan, Surgeon General of the Navy and
Lieutenant General Patricia D. Horoho,
Surgeon General of the Army
• Questions specifically about malaria R&D
at WRAIR and NMRC
• “…right now we're still using the
prevention of oral medication as our
soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines
deploy. But we are focused on trying to
find a vaccine.” (Horoho)

7. ASTMH Council Meeting – May 2013
ASTMH Involvement in Stakeholder Events
• “Rally for Medical
Research” on April 8,
2013
• “Malaria 101: Briefing
and Reception” on April
11, 2013
• World Malaria Day
event, “Invest in the
Future: Defeat Malaria”
on April 25, 2013

8. ASTMH Council Meeting – May 2013
ASTMH Stakeholder Involvement
• Signed onto ten coalition letters to policymakers regarding
budget and sequestration and impact on global health R&D
• Participate in malaria R&D working group
• Attend and actively participate in the Global Health
Technologies Coalition
• Participate in the malaria and NTD roundtables
• Met with the Center for Strategic and International Studies
(CSIS) regarding global health R&D priorities and possible
collaboration for ASTMH annual meeting

9. ASTMH Council Meeting – May 2013
Life in Washington

10. ASTMH Council Meeting – May 2013
A Few Things Are Going On…
• Fiscal cliff averted (for now)
• FY 2013 funding FINALLY wrapped up
• President’s FY 2014 budget FINALLY released
• Congressional budget and appropriations process
for FY 2014 underway
• Debt ceiling expires again on May 19, 2013
• Sequestration?

11. ASTMH Council Meeting – May 2013
President Obama on Scientific Research
• 150th Anniversary of the National
Academy of Sciences
• “We can’t afford to stand still for a
year, or two years, or three years.
We’ve got to seize every opportunity
to get ahead”
• “…we’re on the brink of amazing
breakthroughs that have the chance,
the potential to change life for the
better, which is why we can’t afford
to cut these investments in science
and technology.”

12. ASTMH Council Meeting – May 2013
Secretary Kerry
• Focused on global hot spots
• Global health agenda not as
visible as under Secretary
Clinton

13. ASTMH Council Meeting – May 2013
President’s FY 2014 Budget
Agency FY 12 Final FY 2014 Request Percent Change
NIH $30,868,000,000 $31,340,000,000 1.53%
NIAID $4,487,000,000 $4,578,813,000 2.05%
Fogarty $70,000,000 $72,864,000 4.09%
CDC $5,655,670,000 $5,217,000,000 -7.76%
CDC Parasitic Diseases
and Malaria
$22,069,000 $22,231,000 0.73%
Emerging and Zoonotic
Infectious Disease
$310,393,000 $380,664,000 22.64%
Global Health/Child
Survival (USAID)
$2,629,800,000 $2,645,000,000 0.58%
USAID NTDs $89,000,000 $85,000,000 -4.49%
USAID Malaria $650,000,000 $670,000,000 3.08%

14. ASTMH Council Meeting – May 2013
• Appropriations committees are working on program and
agency funding levels
• Public witness hearings and agency officials testifying
• Appropriations bills will be released
• House and Senate bills will be conferenced
• Individual bills or omnibus passed
• Possible continuing resolution
Budget Outlook

15. ASTMH Council Meeting – May 2013
Sequestration
• Effective March 1, 2013 (delayed from January 1, 2013)
• Medicare sequester (2 percent) effective April 1
• Non-defense discretionary programs cut about 5 – 6
percent
• Defense programs cut about 7 – 8 percent
• Beyond FY 2013?
• Anticipated continued travel cuts

16. Most Believe Sequestration Will Have No Impact on Families
Source: Steven Thomma,“Poll: Sequester Has Not Hit Home,” McClatchy Newspapers, March 10, 2013.
What Kind of Impact Will Sequestration Have on You and Your Family?
Negativ
e
Impact
Positive
Impact
No Impact
Analysis
49% of registered voters believe federal spending cuts will have no effect on them or their families

17. Department of Justice, National Institutes of Health
to Incur Major Cuts due to Sequestration
Source: “Flight Delays, Furloughs and Military Cuts, Oh My!,” Matt Vasilogambros, National Journal, Feb. 21,
2013.
* List is non-exhaustive
Cuts to Key Government Programs and
Agencies*
(Cuts in Billions)
Note
Several mandatory spending programs are exempt from cuts, including Social Security, Medicaid, food
stamps, veteran’s benefits and the Children’s Health Insurance Program
Federal
Aviation
Administration
National
Park
Service CDC
National
Institutes
of Health
Federal
funding
for health
centers
Global
humanitarian
assistance
Global
health
funding
Global
conflict
prevention
Military
assistance
to foreign
nationsUSAID FEMA
Head
Start
programs
Department
of Justice
National
Science
Foundation NASA

18. ASTMH Council Meeting – May 2013
ASTMH’s Sequestration Talking Points
• Message #1: Indiscriminate budget cuts are the wrong way
to reduce the nation’s debt. They will set us back on
innovation and disrupt life-saving global public health
programs.
• Message #2: Slashing funding now will interrupt scientific
progress and leave us without the urgent tools we need to
address health needs now and in the future.
• Message #3: Cutting foreign aid will not solve the debt
crisis.

19. ASTMH Council Meeting – May 2013
ASTMH’s Role

20. ASTMH Council Meeting – May 2013
ASTMH “Asks”
• Provide increased funding for the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, including:
• The CDC Emerging & Zoonotic Infectious Disease Program
• CDC global health programs
• Ensure robust funding for the Department of Defense
infectious disease research efforts including activities at
Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) and the
Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC)
• Provide $32 billion to NIH with a commensurate funding to
NIAID and the Fogarty Center

21. ASTMH Council Meeting – May 2013
ASTMH “Asks”
• Support robust funding for USAID programs including:
• At least $100 million for bilateral neglected disease control efforts
and invest in R&D
• $670 million for the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI)
• Funding of clean water and sanitation programs under the Global
Health and Child Survival program and the Paul Simon Water for the
Poor Act
• Funding for late-stage research and development of new tools
(drugs, diagnostics, vaccines)
• Fund the United States’ FY 2014 voluntary contribution to
the Global Fund at $1.65 billion

22. ASTMH Council Meeting – May 2013
Upcoming ASTMH Activities
• Repeat our messages over
and over
• Work with community to
advocate for highest
possible numbers for global
health
• Work as a bridge in global
health community
• Hill meetings
• Hill testimony
• Hill briefings

23. ASTMH Council Meeting – May 2013
CapWiz
• CapWiz alerts are an effective way to communicate with
policymakers
• The number of messages sent matters!
• Messages are written for a Hill audience—but personalized
stories always help
• World Malaria Day message had 107 participants and 317
advocacy messages sent to the Hill
• ASTMH plans to send one message every month

24. ASTMH Council Meeting – May 2013
Next Steps in ASTMH Advocacy
• Increase member participation in Capwiz Capitol Hill outreach
campaigns
• Council Members on Capitol Hill on Monday
• Dave Walker
• Dan Bausch
• Stephen Dobson
• Kayla Laserson
• Webinars – “Advocacy 101, Session Update”
• Leverage ASTMH Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.
• Use social media to inform about policy
• Alan Magill
• Pat Walker
• Pete Zimmerman

25. ASTMH Council Meeting – May 2013
Questions and Answers