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AVAC Advocates' Network Logo August 7, 2026
Global Health Watch is a weekly newsletter breaking down critical developments in US policies and their impact on global health. Tailored for our partners in the US and around the world, this resource offers a concise analysis of the week’s events, supporting advocates to respond to threats, challenges and opportunities in this critical period of change in global health. 

This week, the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs voted along party lines to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress ([link removed]) for his refusal to answer questions during last week’s hearing on the COVID-19 response – while it was rumored that Steven Quay, a lab-leak proponent, is in line for Fauci’s old job. At the same time, the US Senate Appropriations Committee did step up to stop the White House OMB’s politicization of federal research grants. There’s also – finally – a new leader of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). And the HIV/AIDS community is unpacking major themes ([link removed]) emerging from the AIDS 2026 conference ([link removed]) .


** Anthony Fauci and the Future of NIAID
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The US Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs voted Thursday to hold former NIAID Director Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress ([link removed]) , raising a years-long political campaign against him just a week after he was grilled by Republican Senators for hours over the COVID-19 pandemic and its origins. Much of the scientific and public health community rallied around him after his appearance: “Dr. Fauci is a public health pioneer, who has saved more lives than anyone sitting in the Senate today. He has dedicated his life to public service. Because of Tony Fauci, science has moved faster, lives have been saved and communities are more engaged in every phase of infectious disease research,” wrote AVAC’s Executive Director in a statement ([link removed]) . "[Fauci’s] career was built on evidence, intellectual rigor and an unwavering commitment to
improving people's lives," wrote American Society for Microbiology CEO Stefano Bertuzzi ([link removed]) in a letter to the committee, calling Fauci's scientific record "the gold standard."

Following the hearing, Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS), Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.) appeared in media interviews targeting Fauci and pushing misinformation on vaccines and medical information, all while preparing to appoint Steven Quay, a pharmaceutical executive and prominent advocate of the COVID lab-leak theory (and longtime Fauci critic) to lead NIAID, the agency Fauci and then Jeanne Marrazzo directed for nearly four decades and which oversees $6.5 billion in annual research funding. Quay was not even among the finalists interviewed for the role, but Kennedy selected him nonetheless, according to Politico ([link removed]) . Quay—a physician and pathologist—could become the first NIAID director drawn from the pharmaceutical industry rather than academia or the NIH, despite lacking formal training in infectious diseases.

IMPLICATIONS: Quay's expected appointment would mark a major shift in the leadership and direction of NIAID, which is arguably the world's most influential biomedical research agency. This, along with the Senate Committee’s decision to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress signals that alignment with the Administration’s ideology is more important than scientific expertise in setting US research priorities and public health policy. This will likely have a chilling effect, with researchers and scientists reluctant serve in government and speak out during health crises.

READ:
* Senate panel votes to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress ([link removed]) —Washington Post
* ‘I Am What I Am’: Fauci’s private notes reveal a scientist navigating science, politics, and fame ([link removed]) —Science
* Fauci woes could deter scientists from public service ([link removed]) —Axios
* RFK Jr. targets Fauci and pushes medical misinformation in fiery CNN interview ([link removed]) —CNN
* The pandemic debate the US isn't having ([link removed]) —CIDRAP
* Spotlight on Fauci Said to Boost Book Sales for Kennedy and His Publisher ([link removed]) —New York Times
* Why we’re still fighting over COVID-19 ([link removed]) —Philadelphia Inquirer
* Fauci praised as ‘hero’ by public health experts after Senate hearing ([link removed]) —USA Today
* AVAC Says Stop the Waste, Fraud and Abuse in the Persecution of Tony Fauci ([link removed]) —AVAC
* A lab-leak proponent is in line for Fauci’s old job ([link removed]) —Politico
* Who Is Steven Quay, the Biotech Exec Likely to Take Fauci's Old Job? ([link removed]) —MedPage Today
* Trump suggests Fauci should be prosecuted ([link removed]) —Reuters


** US Senate Blocks White House OMB’s Grant Proposal Temporarily
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This week US Senators on both sides of the political aisle moved to temporarily block the White House Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) proposal ([link removed]) to give political appointees greater authority over grant decisions and weaken the role of scientific peer review. In a stopgap spending bill released by Senate appropriators, Democrats and Republicans joined in adding a provision that would prevent the OMB rule from taking effect until at least December 11, while Congress negotiates broader government funding measures. The proposal was originally slated to go into effect on October 1, but opposition from appropriators, including Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, slowed the path forward.

IMPLICATIONS: This development suggests that months of public opposition and advocacy ([link removed]) from the advocacy and scientific community may be beginning to influence policymakers. The Senate's intervention is one of the first signs that resistance to the OMB proposal extends beyond the scientific community and into both parties in Congress. However, the delay is only temporary, and, if implemented, the rule could fundamentally reshape the US research enterprise by injecting political considerations into grantmaking, weakening peer review and undermining the international collaborations that drive progress against HIV, emerging infectious diseases and other global health challenges.

READ:
* Senate finalizes funding patch that would block Trump’s grant overhaul ([link removed]) —Politico
* OMB’s proposed grantmaking rule will destabilize biomedical research, experts warn ([link removed]) —The Hill
* Controversial White House plan to overhaul US science funding faces Senate opposition ([link removed]) —Nature
* Senate measure would block Trump plan to politicize federal grants, for now ([link removed]) —STAT


** US Senate Confirms New Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Leader
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The US Senate confirmed Erica Schwartz as the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), after a year without a confirmed leader. Schwartz is a former deputy surgeon general and chief medical officer of the US Coast Guard. During her controversial confirmation hearing, she agreed to uphold scientific integrity and transparency, but did not challenge or speak to RFK Jr.’s position on vaccines and other controversial health policies.

IMPLICATIONS: Schwartz will take over the agency, which has seen a major reduction of its workforce, political battles over vaccine policy and mounting public health threats. While her appointment to the leadership post may bring some stability, many public health leaders question whether she is able to lead an independent CDC outside of the Administration’s political pressure as RFK Jr. continues to attempt to reshape federal health policy. Will Schwartz defend scientific evidence, particularly on vaccines, infectious diseases and outbreak preparedness? That is the question many advocates and leaders are waiting to answer.

READ:
* Senate confirms Schwartz for CDC director ([link removed]) —Axios
* Senate Confirms Erica Schwartz as CDC Director ([link removed]) —Associated Press


** International AIDS Conference Wraps Up: Rising Above to Meet the Moment
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The International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026) concluded last Friday. It was marked by extraordinary scientific progress and growing political and financial uncertainty. New data ([link removed]) showed the consequences of the US Administration's retreat from global health leadership, with nearly 2,000 HIV service sites closed and prevention programs for key populations severely disrupted following cuts to PEPFAR and other foreign-aid programs. While delegates applauded Merck's decision to license its investigational monthly oral PrEP pill, alimatravir, to generic manufacturers before Phase 3 trials are complete, leaders warned that supply shortages threaten the rollout of injectable lenacapavir for PrEP (LEN) and called attention to the exclusion of Latin America in access agreements despite its central role in clinical research. Other major advances in prevention, treatment and cure, including innovative community-based and pharmacy delivery models for
long-acting prevention and news of two more patients with HIV and cancer were cured following stem cell transplants for cancer treatment were presented showing the promise of new technologies, but the conversation focused on whether they can be developed and deployed feasibly and at scale.

IMPLICATIONS: AIDS 2026 underscored a stark reality: the greatest barriers to ending HIV are increasingly political rather than scientific. Across sessions on prevention, vaccines, cure research, artificial intelligence and service delivery, one theme emerged repeatedly: innovation alone is not enough. As AVAC’s Mitchell Warren shared in a commentary ([link removed]) , translating scientific breakthroughs into public-health impact will require sustained political commitment, financing, supply chains and delivery systems that can move with speed, scale and equity. As governments cut funding and retreat from longstanding partnerships, the conference made clear that communities are not merely beneficiaries of the HIV response, they are its leaders, and the future of the epidemic will depend on their ability to shape the research, policies and programs that come next.

READ:
* The Human Pain Behind Global HIV Funding Cuts ([link removed]) —POZ
* AIDS 2026: Rising Above to Meet the Moment ([link removed]) —AVAC
* Beyond AIDS 2026: AVAC’s Top 10 ([link removed]) —AVAC
* Aspen clinches deal to produce new once-a-month HIV tablet ([link removed]) —Medical Brief (SA)
* What a merger says about the future of the AIDS response ([link removed]) —Devex
* The US government’s mislabelled map of Africa at a global Aids conference shows again a failure to understand the continent ([link removed]) —The Guardian
* New US HIV agreements leave civil society and key populations on the sidelines ([link removed]) —Aidsmap
* Three HIV announcements South Africa made in Rio ([link removed]) —Bhekisisa
* Two more people cured of HIV after stem cell transplants, offering more clues to long-term remission ([link removed]) —Aidsmap
* Video of the PrEP and PEP vending machine in Sao Paulo ([link removed]) —IST/AIDS

Thursday, August 13 @ 10.00am EDT
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Join The Choice Agenda for a webinar exploring how health equity research is faring in these exceptional times and what academia, communities, and advocates can do together to sustain progress, strengthen collaboration, and advance the HIV response.
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What We're Reading

• State Department restores some global health funding ([link removed]) —New York Times
• Zimbabweans Fleeing Xenophobia in South Africa Battle to Get HIV Medicine Back Home ([link removed]) —Health Policy Watch
• Trump Pathogen Agreements and Global Equity Proposals ([link removed]) —Public Citizen
• FDA approves Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine, the first to use the technology ([link removed]) —STAT
• The Emails Show Why We Sued Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ([link removed]) —MedPage Today
• Why the need for the WHO has never been greater ([link removed]) —Nature
• Deep dive: The future of US foreign aid ([link removed]) —Devex
• What ‘America First’ Means for Global Health ([link removed]) —The Atlantic
• “No One Knows When It Will End”: A Doctor on the Ebola Emergency ([link removed]) —The New Yorker
• Blanche assures anti-abortion supporters that Dobbs will be ‘permanent in every single state’ ([link removed]) —Politico
• Legislative Responses to Trump’s Expanded Global Gag Rules as House Approves FY 2027 Foreign Aid Bill ([link removed]) —PAI
• One year since Kennedy canceled mRNA vaccine projects, science shows how wrong he was ([link removed]) —STAT
• Here is the ‘Final Text’ of UN Political Declaration on Pandemics – Although its Adoption is Far From Guaranteed ([link removed]) —Health Policy Watch

In solidarity,
AVAC
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AVAC Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention
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