In its newly approved 2013 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations has dedicated $5.542 billion to global AIDS funding, the Center for Global Health Policy reports. This includes $4.243 billion for the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and $1.3 billion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. In its accompanying report, the committee directed the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC)—the State Department office responsible for PEPFAR—to focus on children’s health and reducing per-patient costs. The committee also specified that none of the AIDS funding can go toward needle exchange programs. A Senate subcommittee is slated to consider its version of the funding bill soon; both bills must then be reconciled and signed into law by October 1, when the next fiscal year begins.

To read the Center for Global Health Policy statement, click here.