Salazar Introduces Bipartisan SIGHT Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Reps. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) 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.
“We need stronger American investments to tackle the global health challenges of the 21st century,” said Rep. 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.”
"The United States must remain a leader in health technology innovation at home and abroad," said Rep. 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.”
"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 Rep. 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: 3rd Stone Design; Advancing Synergy; American Academy of Pediatrics; American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; AVAC; BEMPU Health; BIO Ventures for Global Health; Bugworks; Catalysts for Change; Center for Global Health Innovation; CEPI U.S.; Coalition for Health Research and Development; CORE Group; Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevoelkerung; FIND; FREO2 Foundation; Global Health Council; Global Health Strategies; Global Health Technologies Coalition; Global Impact; Hemex Health; IAVI; Innovative Vector Control Consortium; International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases; International Vaccine Institute; Makerere University School of Public Health; Management Sciences for Health; Mbarara University of Science and Technology; Medical IMPACT; Medicines for Malaria Venture; MRIGlobal; Pandemic Action Network; Panorama; PATH; Pathfinder International; Policy Cures Research; Population Council; Population Services International; Rice University Institute for Global Health Technologies Coalition; Sabin Vaccine Institute; Sightsavers; Sinapi Biomedical; Society for Children Orphaned by AIDS Inc.; South Africa Health Technologies Advocacy Coalition; Speak Up Africa; The BroadReach Group; The Task Force for Global Health; Treatment Action Group; Unlock Aid Coalition; and White Ribbon Alliance.
Read the text of the bill HERE.
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