On December 15, the House passed, by unanimous consent, a bill (S. 2943) designed to prevent malaria worldwide, clearing the measure for the President’s signature. Sponsored by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC), the bill originally passed the Senate on October 19. The House on October 27 amended and passed the bill, sending it back to the Senate. On December 14, the Senate made several changes to the bill and approved it by unanimous consent, sending it back to the House.
The final version authorizes $50 million in each of FY2001 and FY2002 for international malaria prevention programs at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Additionally, the money may be used to coordinate tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS prevention programs.
The bill instructs USAID to provide recipient countries with information concerning the development of vaccines and therapeutic agents, as well as information about clinical trials conducted in the United States, for HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria. The bill also includes a number of extraneous pieces of legislation that were not considered by the House.
