16 Feb USAID director outlines global health goals
Lisa Schnirring, CIDRAP
Feb 15, 2011 (CIDRAP News) – In tough economic conditions, the United States has sharpened its global health goals to more efficiently expand its reach and invest resources in the most promising treatment and diagnostic tools, Rajiv Shah, MD, director of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) said in a speech today at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Shah, appointed to lead USAID in December 2009, right before Haiti’s earthquake, outlined some of the Obama administration’s global health goals at the NIH’s annual David E. Barnes Global Health Lecture. Dr. Francis Collins, NIH director, said that today was the first time a sitting USAID director has addressed the NIH’s global health group. Shah’s speech was broadcast live on the NIH Web site.
In May 2009 President Barack Obama released a global health initiative designed to help reshape foreign assistance and better coordinate the nation’s global health aid.