A resolution honoring the life of Dr. Paul Farmer by recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to adopt a 21st century global health solidarity strategy and take actions to address past and ongoing harms that undermine the health and well-being of people around the world.
This Senate resolution honors Dr. Paul Farmer and calls on the federal government to adopt a new, 21st-century global health solidarity strategy. It argues that to reduce medically unnecessary deaths and address the broader burden of disease in poor countries, the United States should align its overseas health efforts with an “accompaniment” approach—focused on local health systems, communities, and national plans—and increase funding and reforms to make health aid more effective, equitable, and durable. The resolution also calls for major reforms to international finance and governance, debt relief, and reparation for historical harms (slavery, colonialism, and climate inequity). It is a non-binding Senate resolution (sense of the body) and does not enact new law; it outlines desired policy directions and funding targets for future action. If enacted into policy, the measure could push the United States to pursue large-scale increases in global health spending, reorient aid toward strengthening health systems and local priorities, and press for structural changes in multinational financial and trade institutions. It would also frame reparations and accountability for historical injustices as part of a comprehensive global health strategy. The proposal is currently introductory and subject to committee review; it does not, by itself, create enforceable obligations.
Key Points
- 121st Century global health solidarity strategy (accompaniment and the Five S’s)
- 2- Adopt a strategy modeled on Dr. Paul Farmer’s approach, centering on local health system strengthening and “accompaniment” (working alongside countries to support their priorities) through the Five S’s: Staff, Space, Stuff, Systems, and Social Support.
- 3- Include financing for the discovery and development of new health technologies (diagnostics, treatments, vaccines) for neglected diseases of poverty, with the aim of making these technologies globally available as public goods.
- 4Ambitious funding and coverage targets
- 5- Require increasing annual global health spending to $125 billion, enough to meet the UN target of 0.7% of gross national income on development assistance and to close the majority of financing gaps for universal health coverage in low-income and lower-middle-income countries.
- 6- Emphasize efficient, coordinated use of funds that align with national health plans and strengthen public institutions and local priorities.
- 7Reforms to global health financing and delivery
- 8- Support multilateral fiscal cooperation for global public health investment with governance that includes meaningful participation by global South governments and civil society.
- 9- Ensure funding directly supports national health plans, public institutions, and donor coordination aligned with the accompaniment approach.
- 10Address economic harms undermining health in developing countries
- 11- Promote debt cancellation initiatives across creditors (bilateral, multilateral, and private) and reform global governance institutions (IMF, World Bank, WTO) for fairer representation.
- 12- Support measures to curb harmful financial flows, tax avoidance/evasion, and to promote global labor rights and living wages.
- 13- Move toward new indicators of progress that measure social and ecological health, rather than relying solely on GDP.
- 14Reparations for historical harms
- 15- Declare that the federal government has a duty to issue reparations, including apology, compensation, and guarantees of non-repetition, for slavery and its enduring impacts, harms of colonialism/imperialism, and the climate burden borne by the Global South.
- 16- Propose a framework similar to the reparations commission referenced in prior legislation (H.R. 40) and call for accountability and redress for ongoing harms.