Response from Senator Casey.
Dear Professor Vasilios Gikas:
Thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding S.1911, the Reach Every Mother and Child Act. I appreciate hearing from you about this issue.
The United Nations Millennium Development Goals, adopted in 2000 by the U.N. General Assembly, identify eight critical development goals that the international community has agreed to achieve by 2015. These goals include improving maternal health and reducing child mortality. Although significant progress has been made in both areas since 2000, maternal and child mortality rates remain unacceptably high in many developing countries. In 2014, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) released a report “Acting on the Call: Ending Preventable Child and Maternal Deaths” which set a goal of ending preventable maternal and child deaths by 2035.
Senator Susan Collins of Maine introduced S.1911, the Reach Every Mother and Child Act, on July 30, 2015. This bill would enhance U.S. government efforts to end preventable deaths of mothers, newborns, and young children in developing nations around the world. Specifically it would require a ten-year strategy to achieve the goal of ending preventable maternal, newborn, and child deaths by 2035; establish a permanent Maternal and Child Survival Coordinator at USAID who would be focused on implementing the strategy; and require the Administration to “develop a financing framework which would allow the use of U.S. government dollars to leverage additional commitments from the private sector, non-profit organizations, partner countries, and multinational organizations.”
S.1911 has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of which I am not a member. Please be assured that I will have your concerns in mind should this bill come before the full Senate for consideration.
The Maternal and Children Health and Nutrition accounts within the international affairs budget provide funding for programs that support the delivery of life-saving services for mothers, newborns and children throughout the developing world. This funding is used for a variety of cost-effective interventions that have a positive impact on mothers and children, including training local health workers and purchasing medicines and nutrition supplements. Some of the deadliest diseases that affect children, including diarrhea and pneumonia, can be prevented by vaccines. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 1.5 million children die of vaccine-preventable diseases each year. Immunizations are a highly successful and cost-effective means of helping children to reach their fifth birthdays and to lead healthy, productive lives.
In February 2015, President Obama released his budget request for Fiscal Year 2016, which includes $54.8 billion for international affairs programs. Of that request, $715.18 million is specifically requested for maternal and child health. The FY16 budget request reflect a 7.7% increase for maternal and child health. The FY16 request also includes $235 million for the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), a global health partnership committed to increasing access to vaccines in rural and developing areas. This request is 17% higher than the funding provided for the GAVI Alliance in 2015.
The international affairs budget supports important programs that promote global health, democracy and governance, agriculture and education. Relatively small investments in cultural exchanges, food and healthcare assistance, disaster relief, migration and refugee assistance, and governance initiatives can have a significant positive impact on American economic opportunities and diplomatic relationships.
Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future about this or any other matter of importance to you.
For more information on this or other issues, I encourage you to visit my website, http://casey.senate.gov. I hope you will find this online office a comprehensive resource to stay up-to-date on my work in Washington, request assistance from my office or share with me your thoughts on the issues that matter most to you and to Pennsylvania.
Sincerely,
Bob Casey
United States Senator
Dear Professor Vasilios Gikas:
Thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding S.1911, the Reach Every Mother and Child Act. I appreciate hearing from you about this issue.
The United Nations Millennium Development Goals, adopted in 2000 by the U.N. General Assembly, identify eight critical development goals that the international community has agreed to achieve by 2015. These goals include improving maternal health and reducing child mortality. Although significant progress has been made in both areas since 2000, maternal and child mortality rates remain unacceptably high in many developing countries. In 2014, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) released a report “Acting on the Call: Ending Preventable Child and Maternal Deaths” which set a goal of ending preventable maternal and child deaths by 2035.
Senator Susan Collins of Maine introduced S.1911, the Reach Every Mother and Child Act, on July 30, 2015. This bill would enhance U.S. government efforts to end preventable deaths of mothers, newborns, and young children in developing nations around the world. Specifically it would require a ten-year strategy to achieve the goal of ending preventable maternal, newborn, and child deaths by 2035; establish a permanent Maternal and Child Survival Coordinator at USAID who would be focused on implementing the strategy; and require the Administration to “develop a financing framework which would allow the use of U.S. government dollars to leverage additional commitments from the private sector, non-profit organizations, partner countries, and multinational organizations.”
S.1911 has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of which I am not a member. Please be assured that I will have your concerns in mind should this bill come before the full Senate for consideration.
The Maternal and Children Health and Nutrition accounts within the international affairs budget provide funding for programs that support the delivery of life-saving services for mothers, newborns and children throughout the developing world. This funding is used for a variety of cost-effective interventions that have a positive impact on mothers and children, including training local health workers and purchasing medicines and nutrition supplements. Some of the deadliest diseases that affect children, including diarrhea and pneumonia, can be prevented by vaccines. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 1.5 million children die of vaccine-preventable diseases each year. Immunizations are a highly successful and cost-effective means of helping children to reach their fifth birthdays and to lead healthy, productive lives.
In February 2015, President Obama released his budget request for Fiscal Year 2016, which includes $54.8 billion for international affairs programs. Of that request, $715.18 million is specifically requested for maternal and child health. The FY16 budget request reflect a 7.7% increase for maternal and child health. The FY16 request also includes $235 million for the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), a global health partnership committed to increasing access to vaccines in rural and developing areas. This request is 17% higher than the funding provided for the GAVI Alliance in 2015.
The international affairs budget supports important programs that promote global health, democracy and governance, agriculture and education. Relatively small investments in cultural exchanges, food and healthcare assistance, disaster relief, migration and refugee assistance, and governance initiatives can have a significant positive impact on American economic opportunities and diplomatic relationships.
Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future about this or any other matter of importance to you.
For more information on this or other issues, I encourage you to visit my website, http://casey.senate.gov. I hope you will find this online office a comprehensive resource to stay up-to-date on my work in Washington, request assistance from my office or share with me your thoughts on the issues that matter most to you and to Pennsylvania.
Sincerely,
Bob Casey
United States Senator
