On November 18, the Senate approved, by voice vote, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Stewardship and Oversight Act (S. 1545). The Senate Foreign Relations Committee cleared the legislation on September 30 (see The Source, 10/4/13). The House approved the measure by voice vote on November 19, sending the bill to President Obama.
According to the committee report, the bill would extend for five years the requirement that the Departments of State and Health and Human Services, along with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), develop annual joint oversight and audit plans of PEPFAR. The measure extends a reporting requirement that “captures per-patient costs for PEPFAR-supported treatment and care.” Two new requirements would be added to the report: a study, conducted by the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, of the per-partner country costs, and a comprehensive spending analysis for each partner country. The per-partner country analysis would apply to countries that receive at least $10 million in a Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (Global Fund) funding replenishment cycle.
The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), would extend for five years the 33 percent cap on U.S. contributions to the Global Fund.
