November 17, 2023
Fitzpatrick, colleagues introduce bipartisan SIGHT Act
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US Agency for International Development
Today, the Supporting Innovative Global Health Technologies (SIGHT) Act, a bill spearheaded and endorsed by GHTC, was introduced in the US House of Representatives. Below is a press release from the bill's sponsors, which quotes the executive director of GHTC.
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar (FL-27), and Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06) introduced the Supporting Innovative Global Health Technologies (SIGHT) Act of 2023. The bipartisan bill to empower the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to boost its research and development capabilities for health care technologies in low and middle income countries abroad.
"The United States must remain a leader in health technology innovation at home and abroad," said Congressman Fitzpatrick. "Our bipartisan bill aims to address global health issues and provide further research and development in order to help save millions of lives on the world stage.”
“We need stronger American investments to tackle the global health challenges of the 21st century,” said Congresswoman Salazar. “The SIGHT Act establishes a program dedicated to research at USAID, allowing us to better focus our energy on transformative tools that can save lives and drive down costs. I’m proud to co-lead this bipartisan bill to improve healthcare outcomes for the most vulnerable.”
"COVID-19 laid bare that we must ensure populations at home and abroad have the resources to innovate rapidly, and that global health directly impacts economic stability and prosperity. As health emergencies continue to affect communities worldwide, it's important that we invest in organizations with a track record of successfully advancing global health. One great example is USAID," said Congresswoman Houlahan. "I am proud to introduce this bipartisan piece of legislation to support USAID, enabling them to advance cross-cutting research and development and respond quickly to emerging public health threats."
“We applaud Reps. Fitzpatrick, Houlahan, and Salazar for recognizing both the need and the opportunity to elevate USAID’s role in global health R&D,” said Jamie Bay Nishi, executive director of the Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC), which represents 45 nonprofit organizations, academic institutions and aligned business committed to advancing innovations that save lives worldwide. “R&D partnerships led by USAID have been instrumental in saving millions of lives around the world—while also stimulating investments that create jobs here in the United States. It’s good to see Congressional leaders committed to intensifying the agency’s impact by encouraging USAID to go beyond a disease-specific approach and embrace a disease-agnostic approach—to pursue R&D partnerships that address the biggest priorities in global health, whatever and wherever they may be.”
The SIGHT Act is also endorsed by:
1. 3rd Stone Design
2. Advancing Synergy
3. American Academy of Pediatrics
4. American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
5. AVAC
6. BEMPU Health
7. BIO Ventures for Global Health
8. Bugworks
9. Catalysts for Change
10. Center for Global Health Innovation
11. CEPI U.S.
12. Coalition for Health Research and Development
13. CORE Group
14. Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevoelkerung
15. FIND
16. FREO2 Foundation
17. Global Health Council
18. Global Health Strategies
19. Global Health Technologies Coalition
20. Global Impact
21. Hemex Health
22. IAVI
23. Innovative Vector Control Consortium
24. International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases
25. International Vaccine Institute
26. Makerere University School of Public Health
27. Management Sciences for Health
28. Mbarara University of Science and Technology
29. Medical IMPACT
30. Medicines for Malaria Venture
31. MRIGlobal
32. Pandemic Action Network
33. Panorama
34. PATH
35. Pathfinder International
36. Policy Cures Research
37. Population Council
38. Population Services International
39. Rice University Institute for Global Health Technologies Coalition
40. Sabin Vaccine Institute
41. Sightsavers
42. Sinapi Biomedical
43. Society for Children Orphaned by AIDS Inc.
44. South Africa Health Technologies Advocacy Coalition
45. Speak Up Africa
46. The BroadReach Group
47. The Task Force for Global Health
48. Treatment Action Group
49. Unlock Aid Coalition
50. White Ribbon Alliance
Read the text of the bill here.
Tags: Announcement