U.S. Global Health Funding: Breaking Down the Budget

Join us for a timely conversation on the evolving landscape of U.S. global health funding. This session will provide a critical assessment of the current operating status of major programs including the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. We’ll explore how each organization is functioning amid shifting political and fiscal conditions, where key vulnerabilities lie, and what operational challenges may impact their ability to deliver on global health commitments. Framed by the broader policy environment, the discussion will also examine the long-term implications for U.S. leadership in global health and humanitarian response—while spotlighting emerging proposals for reform, innovation, and structural resilience.

This event is free and open to the public. 

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Angeli Achrekar, MPH, PhD
Deputy Executive Director of the Programme Branch, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS); Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations

Angeli Achrekar is the Deputy Executive Director of the Programme Branch at the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and an Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations. Prior to joining UNAIDS in January 2023, Dr. Achrekar served as the Principal Deputy U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator for the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).  Over the past 20 years with the U.S. government and PEPFAR, she has held prominent positions helping to lead the largest global health effort of the U.S. government to ensure life-saving HIV prevention and treatment services to millions of people around the globe and strengthen health and community systems across 50 countries.  She is a passionate public servant, dedicated to advancing global health and development, across sectors, especially for women and girls. Over the years, she has helped evolve UNAID’s program for more person-centered care, protecting and increasing HIV/AIDS gains while also capacitating countries for broader healthcare delivery.  Her deep program, policy and partnership development experience at the global and country levels has cultivated strong multi-sectoral partnerships for large-scale and transformational impact, fundamental to ending the AIDS pandemic. She holds a Doctorate of Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Master of Public Health from Yale University, and a Bachelor of Science from the University of California, Los Angeles.

J. Stephen Morrison, PhD
Senior Vice President and Director, Global Health Policy Center, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)

J. Stephen Morrison, PhD, is a senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and directs its Global Health Policy Center. Through several high-level commissions, he has shaped decisions in Congress and the administration on HIV/AIDS, reproductive health and gender equality, and health security, including pandemic preparedness. Since 2018, Morrison has led global health security at the annual Munich Security Conference. He directed The New Barbarianism, an award-winning documentary on violence against the health sector and seven episodes of the CSIS video series Ukraine: The Human Price of War. He cohosts the weekly podcast series The CommonHealth. From 2021 to 2023, he served as the James R. Schlesinger Distinguished Professor at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. He is a trustee of the China Medical Board, a member of the board of the Rostropovich Vishnevskaya Foundation, and a member of advisory boards to the International Division at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Johns Hopkins University Center for Humanitarian Health. He served in the Clinton administration on the secretary of state’s Policy Planning Staff and, on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa. He taught for 12 years at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, holds a PhD in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is a magna cum laude graduate of Yale College.

About the Global Health Coffee Sessions

The Global Health Coffee Sessions virtual series pivots with a new lineup of timely conversations at the intersection of health, policy, and global cooperation. Held on the last Friday of each month from 9:00–10:00 AM ET, this series brings together global health experts, policymakers, and practitioners from Harvard and beyond for dynamic, forward-looking discussions.

This spring, we’ll explore how the U.S. engages with global health institutions, what its budget priorities say about its global health commitments, and how misinformation is reshaping public understanding. The series will continue with new topics and speakers throughout the year.

From multilateral health governance to budget breakdowns and media literacy, each session aims to spark thoughtful conversation, highlight real-world challenges, and offer actionable insights into the future of global health.

All sessions are hosted virtually via Zoom, recorded, and available afterward on our YouTube Channel.

The Harvard Global Health Institute provides a platform for different perspectives and debates within the field of global health through a variety of media. The views expressed in these events and programs are solely those of the speakers, authors, researchers, and participating audience. As such, they do not speak for the institute or the university.