Key Biodefense Elements in the FY2024 President’s Budget Request

The briefing details the FY2024 budget requests for U.S. biodefense, highlighting significant increases in pandemic preparedness funding for HHS and the launch of new initiatives like the Public Health Emergency Fund. It notes a mixed trend in the Department of Defense, where some biosecurity research programs are ending while others receive increases. The document also examines international biosecurity efforts through the State Department and DTRA, while noting budget cuts to the Biological Threat Reduction Program.

• The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) requested a $20 billion increase in mandatory spending for pandemic preparedness via the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund. This funding is distributed among ASPR ($10.54 billion), CDC ($6.1 billion), NIH ($2.69 billion), and FDA ($670 million) to support activities such as next-generation sequencing diagnostics and wastewater surveillance.
• The FY2024 budget introduces a new $50 million funding line for the Public Health Emergency Fund (PHEF), which HHS argues is a "vital public health tool" for rapid response to declared emergencies. This is notable as the fund has only received appropriations twice previously, in 1987 and 1993.
• The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) is set to receive $2.5 billion, representing a $1 billion baseline increase from the FY2023 appropriation, to develop breakthrough technologies for medicine and public health.
• The Department of Defense (DoD) is ending several biosecurity-related research projects in FY2024, including Biology for Security (BIOSEC), Preventing the Emergence of Disease (PED), Outpacing Infectious Disease, Defense Against Mass Terror Threats, and Early Battlefield Interventions, which collectively had a budget of $53 million last year.
• The Biological Threat Reduction Program (BTRP), part of the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, faces a budget reduction of nearly $7 million, decreasing from $235 million to just over $228 million. The authors suggest this may be due to a pause in work in Ethiopia and Ukraine.
• The Department of State requested $500 million for the global Pandemic Fund, which is double its request from the previous year. The fund is administered by the World Bank and aims to help low-income countries fill health security gaps.
• The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requested $104.7 million for its Biological Support program, an increase of $20 million over the FY2023 baseline, to provide early warning of biological threats and operational support for local governments.
• The National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF), a biosafety level-4 laboratory, is seeking an increase in its operations and maintenance budget from $112 million to $126 million following its official opening in May 2023.

APA

Gupta, A., Dubin, R., & Parr, L. (2023). Key Biodefense Elements in the FY2024 President’s Budget Request. The Council on Strategic Risks. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2023/07/27/key-biodefense-elements-in-the-fy2024-presidents-budget-request/

Chicago

Gupta, Arushi, Rhys Dubin, and Lillian Parr. Key Biodefense Elements in the FY2024 President’s Budget Request. The Council on Strategic Risks, 2023. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2023/07/27/key-biodefense-elements-in-the-fy2024-presidents-budget-request/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Gupta |first1=Arushi |last2=Dubin |first2=Rhys |last3=Parr |first3=Lillian |title=Key Biodefense Elements in the FY2024 President’s Budget Request |publisher=The Council on Strategic Risks |date=27 July 2023 |url=https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2023/07/27/key-biodefense-elements-in-the-fy2024-presidents-budget-request/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{gupta2023key, author = {Gupta, Arushi and Dubin, Rhys and Parr, Lillian}, title = {{Key Biodefense Elements in the FY2024 President’s Budget Request}}, institution = {The Council on Strategic Risks}, year = {2023}, month = jul, url = {https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2023/07/27/key-biodefense-elements-in-the-fy2024-presidents-budget-request/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }