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The ideas and innovators shaping health care | | | | |  | | By Grace Scullion , Ben Leonard , Carmen Paun and Ruth Reader | | | | | 
Senate Foreign Relations Chair Bob Menendez has a provision to boost global health funding that's likely to become law. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo | Congress returns to Washington next week with two principal objectives for its lame duck session: funding the government for fiscal 2023 and passing for the 63rd year in a row a reauthorization of defense programs. The National Defense Authorization Act could authorize the first new global health funding in months, and while the act doesn’t technically allot the money, Congress’ appropriators usually do what the authorization bill says. After holding closed-door meetings to sort through nearly 1,000 amendments, the Armed Services Committee agreed on a provision to add $5 billion for global health security and pandemic preparedness, a Senate aide told Grace. The Senate plans to consider the bill as soon as next week. The amendment, by Senate Foreign Relations Chair Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and ranking member Jim Risch (R-Idaho), authorizes the funding for use over five years. Their amendment would:
- Implement a strategy, to be developed by the president, for U.S. global health security and diplomacy that advances the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Global Health Security Agenda
- Create a new position, to be appointed by the president, in the State Department to coordinate and oversee the president’s strategy
- Help launch a World Bank fund for global health security and pandemic prevention and preparedness
“As the United States turns the page on COVID-19, that reality is still far out of reach for millions more living beyond our borders,” Menendez said in a press release introducing the legislation. It “enhances our ability to take robust action now and halt future infectious disease threats before they reach our shores.” The Biden administration asked for $5 billion — a fraction of the $125 billion in yearly global health spending that a group of Democratic lawmakers had requested earlier this fall and that the United Nations had set as an aid target. The Democrats' resolution identified a $350 billion financing gap in essential health care services in the world’s poorest countries. The U.S. Agency for International Development had also asked for more: $19 billion for 2022 alone. The Covid-19 pandemic erased previous global health progress for diseases like tuberculosis, which saw its first rise in cases in nearly two decades last year. Only 12 percent of people in low-income countries have received the Covid vaccine, compared with more than three-quarters in wealthier countries, according to the World Bank. Lawmakers tried and failed to pass two packages to fight Covid abroad this spring. A line item allocating $5 billion for global health was struck from the federal budget. The House passed its version of the defense bill on July 14. The chambers will need to reconcile their measures before sending a final bill to President Joe Biden.
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Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve, Sonoma County, Calif. | Sam Oates | This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. A new study shows that meditation may be as good as taking the popular drug Lexapro for anxiety. Now, before you sign up for a meditation app, just know the meditation tested was an intensive, 8-week program. Share news, tips and feedback with Ben Leonard at bleonard@politico.com, Ruth Reader at rreader@politico.com, Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com or Grace Scullion at gscullion@politico.com. Send tips securely through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp. Today on our Pulse Check podcast, Ruth talks with Grace about a coming Supreme Court decision that could have broad implications for who is accountable for ensuring individual rights to federally funded services. Plus, Chris Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, on his new study that estimates immunity to Covid-19 by country.
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Carl Court/Getty Images | Doctors, nurses and physician assistants who used artificial intelligence at a high rate were twice as likely as those who did so at a lower rate to diagnose patients with low left ventricular ejection fraction — evidence of heart failure, a new study from the Mayo Clinic found. Diagnosing the condition early is key to improving outcomes. Nurse practitioners and physician assistants were more likely than doctors to use AI at high rates, Ben reports. “Artificial intelligence is poised to transform medicine,” the study said. “However, to impact human health, AI tools must be adopted by clinicians.… We found wide variation in the rate of adoption of AI recommendations.”
| | | | TUNE IN TO THE PULSE CHECK PODCAST: Keep your finger on the pulse of the biggest stories in health care by listening to our daily Pulse Check podcast. POLITICO’s must-listen briefing decodes healthcare policy and politics, and delivers reality checks from health professionals on the front lines. SUBSCRIBE NOW AND START LISTENING . | | | | | | | | |  A man in Zimbabwe is vaccinated against Covid-19 last year. | Getty Images | A new annual report on the global vaccine market from the World Health Organization recommends ways to alleviate inequities in vaccine access that Covid-19 brought to light, Carmen reports:
- Governments should invest in new vaccine technologies, regional research and development, and manufacturing hubs. Otherwise, drugmakers will continue to focus on the most profitable drugs and vaccines in rich countries.
- A pandemic treaty under negotiation via the WHO should guide nations in how they should share vaccines in times of scarcity.
- The pharmaceutical industry should more willingly share its technology and commit to help developing countries access vaccines.
“We need to enhance government oversight of vaccine production and distribution and strike a much better balance between serving national interests and global public health objectives,” says the report. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
