Saving Lives Through Innovation

It is indisputable that the state of the world’s health, especially for mothers and children, has improved dramatically. In the past 20 years, childhood deaths have been cut in half in parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, but there is still much that can be done. Around the world, for every five children who live to see their fifth birthday, one does not. One woman in 30 dies of pregnancy-related causes. In many of these cases, simple, low-cost, culturally-appropriate technologies can make the difference between life and death.

Critical advances in global health are not possible without strong leadership and support from the United States, and for this reason, I have sponsored H.R. 2144, the 21st Century Global Health Technology Act. This bill will help to maintain America’s leadership role in innovation and its commitment to global health, while increasing the leverage of private sector expertise and resources in a time of fiscal constraint.

Specifically, the bill supports the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in partnership with the private sector and collaboration with other agencies to develop new life-saving and cost-effective health technologies to improve the health of some of the most vulnerable people across the globe.