In May of 2003, Congress passed the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 which authorizes $15 billion over five years for bilateral and multilateral programs to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis and care for persons affected by HIV/AIDS in countries hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic.

The legislation is based on President Bush's 5-year emergency plan for AIDS relief. It calls for the prevention of 7,000,000 new HIV infections, the placement of at least 2,000,000 persons infected with HIV on life-extending drugs, and care to 10,000,000 orphans and vulnerable children as well as others affected by HIV/AIDS. Primary beneficiaries of this legislation include 15 countries located in Africa, the Caribbean and Southeast Asia.

As a direct outgrowth of this legislation, the US Department of State funded IOM to conduct a seven month study to look at options for the overseas placement of US health professionals in the 15 identified countries.

More specifically, the IOM was asked to advise the government on alternative mechanisms to mobilize a volunteer workforce, on the quantity and qualities of relevant US technical experts that will be needed to set up a sustainable system, and on the expert networks that will be needed in the 15 overseas areas. This advice includes long- and short-term options for mobilizing, preparing, sending, managing, and compensating a "US Volunteer Corps" of health professionals that would train, serve as role models, and work side-by-side with host country counterparts.