Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9583 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9583

      To provide support for scaling up global access to multiple
 micronutrient supplements and other cost effective maternal and child
                 interventions, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 2, 2026

   Mrs. Kim (for herself, Ms. Titus, and Mr. Lawler) introduced the
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

      To provide support for scaling up global access to multiple
 micronutrient supplements and other cost effective maternal and child
                 interventions, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Act
of 2026''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Investments in effective programs to prevent maternal
        and child deaths directly advance United States foreign policy
        and economic interests by promoting stability, increased
        economic growth and market access and improved diplomatic
        relations with partner countries.
            (2) Global maternal and child deaths remain unacceptably
        high. In 2023, a woman died of pregnancy related causes every 2
        minutes. Millions of children under 5 continue to die every
        year from preventable causes, with preterm birth, birth
        complications, and childhood diseases, like pneumonia and
        diarrhea, accounting for more than half of all under-5 deaths
        worldwide.
            (3) These deaths are largely preventable through proven,
        low-cost interventions such as--
                    (A) skilled care before, during, and after birth;
                    (B) treatment of childhood infectious diseases;
                    (C) adequate nutrition for pregnant women and
                children; and
                    (D) immunization.
            (4) Immunization is a cornerstone of child survival,
        protecting children from deadly diseases, including diarrheal
        disease, pneumonia, measles, polio, diphtheria, pertussis, and
        meningitis. It remains one of the most cost-effective
        interventions, delivering a return of at least $26 for every $1
        invested. The United States Government's partnership with Gavi,
        the Global Vaccine Alliance, is a major driver in reducing the
        number of childhood deaths from vaccine preventable diseases in
        lower-income countries, with Gavi's immunization campaigns
        averting nearly 21,000,000 child deaths since 2000.
            (5) Continued United States leadership in maternal and
        child health could help save millions more lives by 2030,
        accelerating progress toward ending preventable child and
        maternal deaths worldwide.
            (6) At just $4 per pregnancy, multiple micronutrient
        supplement (MMS) prenatal vitamins combine 15 essential
        vitamins and minerals into a single, lifesaving tablet,
        dramatically improving birth outcomes and reducing maternal
        anemia.
            (7) Despite the immense benefits, most women around the
        world lack access to modern prenatal vitamins.
            (8) Previous guidance from the MMS Global Investment
        Roadmap suggests that there are at least 260,000,000 pregnant
        women in high-burden countries who lack access to MMS prenatal
        vitamins, and providing access for these women to MMS over the
        next 5 years would save 600,000 lives, improve birth outcomes
        for 5,000,000 babies, and prevent anemia in over 15,000,000
        pregnant women.
            (9) 20 years of research and 70 rigorous trials prove
        modern MMS prenatal vitamins are superior to iron-folic acid
        tablets in every way-slashing low birthweight by an extra 79
        percent, stillbirths by 27 percent, and infant deaths by 29
        percent.
            (10) A coalition of philanthropies has come together to
        commit $250,000,000 to MMS prenatal vitamins, providing
        leverage to United States Government investments.
            (11) MMS prenatal vitamins are American-made, supporting
        American factory jobs, and highlighting American ingenuity and
        compassion.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    The following shall be the policy of the United States:
            (1) To advance foreign policy, national security and
        economic interests, by strategically supporting partner
        countries to invest in maternal and child survival and health
        programs. The United States shall make maternal and child
        survival a key objective of United States global health and
        foreign assistance strategies and programs.
            (2) To support programs that reduce preventable death among
        mothers, newborns, and children and enable them to thrive,
        which promotes more stable and prosperous societies and
        advances the United States diplomatic and commercial position
        with partner countries. United States assistance programs for
        maternal and child health shall seek to--
                    (A) reduce preventable child and maternal mortality
                in priority countries to 12 percent or lower of total
                deaths by 2030; and
                    (B) increase coverage levels for the target set of
                life-saving interventions listed in subsection 4 within
                10 to 15 priority countries to a level of at least 70
                percent by 2030.
            (3) To prioritize scaling up investments in the procurement
        and delivery of MMS prenatal vitamins as a highly cost-
        effective intervention to address maternal and child health and
        malnutrition.
            (4) To prioritize the highest impact prevention and
        treatment interventions targeted towards prenatal, delivery,
        postnatal, newborn and child care, including prevention and
        management of complications and infections during pregnancy,
        access to skilled birth attendants, breastfeeding support, care
        of small or sick newborns, screening and treatment for
        malnutrition, vitamin A and other micronutrient supplements,
        child immunization, and treatments for childhood diseases
        including diarrhea and pneumonia.

SEC. 4. INITIATIVE TO SCALE UP MULTIPLE MICRONUTRIENT SUPPLEMENT
              COVERAGE.

    (a) In General.--The relevant foreign assistance agency shall
select foreign countries as priority countries for purposes of
increasing the number of women receiving MMS coverage, including
prenatal vitamins.
    (b) Criteria.--The selection of priority countries shall be based
on the following:
            (1) The prevalence of malnourished pregnant and lactating
        women and children under the age of 5.
            (2) The presence of high-need, underserved, marginalized,
        vulnerable, or impoverished communities.
            (3) The enabling environment for improved maternal and
        child health, including presence of national maternal and child
        health plans and demonstration of strong political commitment.
            (4) Any other criteria that the relevant foreign assistance
        agency determines to be appropriate.
    (c) Update.--The relevant foreign assistance agency shall update
the selection of priority countries not later than 5 years after the
date of the enactment of this Act.
    (d) Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
        the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 5 years,
        the relevant foreign assistance agency shall submit to the
        appropriate congressional committees a report that describes
        progress made towards scaling up MMS coverage.
            (2) Matters to be included.--The report required by
        paragraph (1) shall include the following:
                    (A) A summary of progress made towards achieving
                increased coverage levels for MMS.
                    (B) A detailed summary of the criteria used in
                selecting priority countries for receiving MMS prenatal
                vitamins.
                    (C) In priority countries--
                            (i) a detailed summary of MMS scale up
                        programs and activities in the previous fiscal
                        year, including a breakdown of the countries to
                        which resources have been allocated and an
                        estimated number of pregnant women reached with
                        MMS coverage; and
                            (ii) a description of the coordination of
                        MMS programs with other health and development
                        programs.
                    (D) A description of other donor country and host
                country financial commitments and efforts to increase
                MMS coverage, and how the United States is engaging
                with donor country and host country governments to
                increase those commitments and efforts along with other
                interventions to improve nutrition outcomes.
                    (E) An identification of constraints on
                implementation of programs and activities and lessons
                learned from programs and activities from the previous
                fiscal years.
                    (F) A summary of how United States assistance
                programs to increase MMS coverage levels have advanced
                United States foreign policy and national security
                priorities with partner countries.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section up to $150,000,000 for each of
the fiscal years 2026 through 2030 from amounts in the Global Health
Programs Account of the Department of State.

SEC. 5. MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH STRATEGY AND REPORT.

    (a) Strategy.--The relevant foreign assistance agency shall
establish and publish a 5-year Maternal and Child Health strategy with
specific targets for increasing coverage levels for priority
interventions and priority countries. The strategy should prioritize
investments in the delivery of interventions with the greatest cost-
effectiveness and measurable outcome of lives saved and disability
averted.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment
of this Act, and annually thereafter for 5 years, the relevant foreign
assistance agency shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report that describes progress made towards scaling up
Maternal and Child Health interventions. The report shall include the
following:
            (1) Program funding allocations and obligations
        disaggregated by country and by program area intervention on an
        annual basis.
            (2) Baseline data for the 2 fiscal years preceding the date
        of enactment, including funding levels, performance indicators,
        and programmatic outcomes.
            (3) A plan for how priority interventions will be delivered
        and implemented, ensuring interventions are reaching mothers
        and children.
            (4) A standard set of performance and outcome indicators
        for maternal and child health programs.
            (5) A common set budget tags or codes, consistent across
        United States agencies and programs, to track funding
        allocations and obligations by country, year, and intervention
        area.

SEC. 6. RELEVANT FOREIGN ASSISTANCE AGENCY DEFINED.

    In this Act, the term ``relevant foreign assistance agency'' means
the department or agency designated as primarily responsible for
implementing United States foreign assistance under part I of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.).
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