U.S. Department of State

An Indian health worker administers a drop of polio vaccine to a homeless child at a railway station during a polio eradication campaign in Allahabad, India, January 23, 2011. ©AP Image

Launched by the President in 2009, the U.S. Global Health Initiative (GHI) supports countries as they work to improve the health of their own people. It builds health systems—training health workers, establishing disease monitoring and laboratory systems, repairing health clinics, and improving procurement systems—so improvements in health can continue for generations.

Global Health Initiative Principles

GHI is driven by a set of core principles: (1) focus on women, girls, and gender equality; (2) encourage country ownership and invest in country-led plans; (3) build sustainability through health systems strengthening; (4) strengthen and leverage key multilateral organizations, global health partnerships, and private sector engagement; (5) increase impact through strategic coordination and integration; (6) improve metrics, monitoring, and evaluation; and (7) promote research and innovation.

Where We Work

GHI includes U.S. global health programs in approximately 80 countries worldwide. Eight have been selected as the first set of “GHI Plus” countries. They are Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nepal, and Rwanda. These countries will receive additional technical and management resources to quickly implement GHI’s approach.

What GHI Does

GHI is the next step forward in the way U.S. Government agencies conduct global health activities, building on successful bipartisan leadership in global health, and expanding their impact for sustainable results around the world.

• Saving Lives: Fighting global disease reflects core American values and interests—saving millions of lives and allowing more mothers to make a better world for their children from preventable and treatable diseases.
• Promoting Security: Fighting global disease anywhere directly protects the health of citizens around the world because infectious disease knows no borders. Global health is also vital to national security, and reduces the instability that fuels war and conflict.
• Maximizing Results: GHI ensures that agencies conducting global health initiatives combine their efforts to maximize results.