When is $500 million not enough?
When 38,600,000 people are living with AIDS/HIV, 14,602,353 people are suffering from Tuberculosis, and 408,388,001 malaria victims are struggling to survive.
Bill and Melinda Gates have stood up for the world’s sick and poor once again. Last week, the Gates Foundation announced it will contribute $500 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria over the next five years.
The Gates grant thrilled world health advocates. But, for the Global Fund to carry out large-scale disease prevention and treatment, donor governments like the United States must take global health seriously, and donate accordingly.
The House of Representatives has set aside $450 million for the Global Fund for 2007, and the Senate has tentatively budgeted $700 million. Senate action is not yet complete – America’s contribution may still increase.
But global health experts say the United States needs to give $866 million if the Global Fund is to make good on a number of ambitious, worthy goals. Global Fund workers hope to make HIV treatment universally accessible, cut global TB deaths by half, distribute 100 million insecticide-treated malaria bed nets, educate tens of millions of people about HIV/AIDS and create a safe, effective, affordable TB vaccine.
The Global Fund, which awards grants to applicant countries and monitors work to protect against corruption, provides 20 percent of external funding for HIV/AIDS relief, two-thirds of all funding for TB malaria, and has worked with more than 130 nations.
According to Global Fund representatives, not only might congressional thrift stall global health efforts, it might also cause the situation in some countries to regress. People already being treated with Global Fund resources could be forced out of treatment, increasing drug-resistant strains.
Obviously, experts at the Gates Foundation believe the Global Fund is fighting the right fight and in desperate need of financial assistance.
“When the richest man on Earth provides such generous support the risk is that some donor government may mistakenly think they are off the hook,” said Joanne Carter of RESULTS, a nonprofit lobbying group with a chapter in Snohomish County. “The Gates’ pledge must be seen as an endorsement and a challenge to wealthy countries.”
Congress needs to meet that challenge. Every person’s life – no matter where they live, what they look like, how they dress, to whom they pray – is precious. We must provide adequate support to the Global Fund.
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