Organizational sign-on letter in support of extending PEPFAR
Please send organizational endorsements to 08.stop.aids@gmail.com as soon as you can. The Maryknoll Global Concerns office has signed this letter.
Read the key provisions of the new PEPFAR bill.
February 7, 2008
Dear Members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs,We write as members of the worldwide movement of organizations concerned about AIDS and global health. We urge you to support passage of Chair’s text of the U.S. Global HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008 - a renewed and improved version of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
This bill continues and builds on the progress made by current U.S. global health initiatives, and affirms U.S. commitments made to achieve universal access to AIDS treatment, prevention and care, as well as meeting targets pledged against tuberculosis and malaria.
In addition to providing assistance for prevention of new HIV infections and treating and caring for people living with HIV/AIDS, the bill also aims to transition U.S. global AIDS programs from an emergency phase to a sustainable one. The bill increases flexibility in budget programming, allows a more comprehensive approach to prevention including new activities to address the vulnerabilities of women and children, strengthening health systems by providing technical and financial support to countries to develop and implement health workforce plans and support for training and retaining necessary new health workers, supporting scientific research for new vaccines, microbicides and prevention technologies and strengthens coordination efforts across U.S. agencies on HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria programs.
The bill establishes in legislation a U.S. malaria program, continuing and building upon the President’s Malaria Initiative that has already contributed greatly to improvements in the fight to eradicate malaria. It also includes assistance for activities aiming to prevent and stop the spread of tuberculosis‹a disease that knows no borders as witnessed by the MDR-TB case in the U.S. last spring.
There is a continued need to scale up access to treatment and to get important new first and second line regimens to more of the people in clinical need. And to succeed sustainably, impoverished countries must be substantially supported significant increases the number of health workers trained -- and supported so they can do their jobs in their countries of origin. The bill also affirms the U.S. commitment to support the multilateral Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
To achieve the goals in prevention, treatment, care and to ensure a holistic approach to HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria and the health workforce necessary to keep U.S. commitments, a minimum of $50-59 billion is needed over five years.
To demonstrate continued U.S. commitment to partners in the developing world and to show that Americans intend to sustain work against AIDS worldwide through increased investments and sound policies on global health, we urge that you support passage of this legislation with at least $50-$59 billion over five years, and all of the policies and improved program targets in the current draft bill.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,