Hi Friend,
Every spring, the US Congress works to decide how our tax dollars should get spent. In total, they allocate $3.5 TRILLION to various projects and programs. For the past two years, global AIDS programs have not received sufficient increases in funding. President Obama proposed to spend 0.03% of the federal budget on the Global Fund in 2011. At that level, the Global Fund would not be able to continue to fund programs that are providing bed nets to prevent malaria, chest x-rays to diagnose tuberculosis, and treatment for HIV. If just 0.05% of the budget, a modest but critical increase from Obama's proposal, went to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, we would be meeting our commitment and helping to save millions of lives.
Will you email your Member of Congress today, and ask them to sign onto a letter calling for full funding of the Global Fund?
The letter, known as a Dear Colleague, is being circulated by Representatives Payne and Lee, and will be delivered to the Chairs of the Appropriations Committee and Sub-committee on Foreign Operations on Wednesday. So far, 98 Members of Congress signed a similar letter. Can we double that? Representatives to sign the letter. A strong showing will prove to the people who control funding for global AIDS that it is critical to increase funding for the Global Fund.
Click here to email your Member of Congress now.
The full text of the letter is pasted below. For more information on the Global Fund's funding crisis, and it's impact on people with HIV across the globe, click here.
After you've emailed, call your Member of Congress and follow up on your email. And let us know how it goes! You can reply directly to this email to tell me what you hear after you call.
Thank you for taking action!
- Kaytee
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March 9, 2010
Strengthen the Global Response to HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria
Support $1.75 billion for the Global Fund in FY11
Dear Colleague;
We urge you to join us in sending the attached letter to the Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, and the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies urging them to provide $1.75 billion in funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria for fiscal year 2011.
Since 2003, the Global Fund has helped provide antiretroviral therapy for more than 2.5 million people and palliative care and prevention services for millions more. It has also placed 6 million people on tuberculosis treatment and provided 104 million bed nets to prevent malaria.
Thanks to the help of the United States, the Global Fund has grown into a proven, country-driven, performance-based mechanism which ensures that countries themselves are responsible for building their own sustainable programs. Importantly, it has strong oversight and accountability mechanisms including, among others, an independent technical review panel that reviews all of the grants, local auditors to provide oversight over the grants, and an independent inspector general to guard against loss of taxpayer dollars.
As the founding contributor, leading donor, and a key board member of the Global Fund, the United States has sought to challenge other countries to match US contributions on a 2 for 1 basis. Based on its projected budget for next year, a contribution of $1.75 billion by the United States would assist the Global Fund in meeting its anticipated funding needs in order to sustain its current commitments and launch a new round of funding grants
On behalf of the five million people per year that are killed as a result of these three diseases, we urge you to join us in support of this request for $1.75 billion for the Global Fund in FY11. If you need further information or would like to sign on, please contact Christos Tsentas of Rep. Lee's staff at 5-2661.
Sincerely,
/s
Barbara Lee, M.C.
/s
Donald M. Payne, M.C.
March XX, 2009
The Honorable David R. Obey The Honorable Todd Tiahrt
Chairman Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Labor, Health & Human Subcommittee on Labor, Health & Human
Services, Education and Related Agencies Services, Education and Related Agencies
2358-B Rayburn House Office Building 1016 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, D.C. 20515
The Honorable Nita M. Lowey The Honorable Kay Granger
Chairwoman Ranking Member
Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations,
and Related Programs and Related Programs
Room HB-26 U.S. Capitol 1016 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515 Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Chairman Obey and Chairwoman Lowey and Ranking Members Tiahrt and Granger:
Thank you for your leadership in maintaining the vital U.S. commitment to the fight against global HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. As you begin consideration of the Fiscal Year 2011 (FY2011) appropriations bills, we urge you to provide combined funding of $1.75 billion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Specifically, we request $1.45 billion in the State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs and $300 million in the Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bills.
The Global Fund is an innovative and effective development financing model designed to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. It has quickly become one of the most successful tools in the world to fight these three diseases that combined kill approximately 5 million people per year. Since 2003, the Global Fund has helped provide antiretroviral therapy for more than 2.5 million people and palliative care and prevention services for millions more. It has also placed 6 million people on tuberculosis treatment and provided 104 million bed nets to prevent malaria. Approximately 35 percent of Global Fund resources have also been used to directly strengthen national health systems, multiplying the impact of Global Fund grants apart from its disease specific interventions.
Thanks to the help of the United States, the Global Fund has grown into a proven, country-driven, performance-based mechanism which ensures that countries themselves are responsible for building their own sustainable programs. Notably, it has important oversight and accountability mechanisms including, among others, an independent technical review panel that reviews eligible grant proposals for technical merit, Local Fund Agents that verify all the programmatic and financial reports submitted to the Global Fund, and an independent Inspector General to guard against loss of taxpayer dollars.
In 2008, on a bipartisan basis, Congress reaffirmed US support for the Global Fund by enacting the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-293). This landmark legislation recognized that the Global Fund represents the multilateral component of United States efforts to combat these three diseases, extending our reach to more than 140 countries around the world. The legislation also continued language challenging other countries to match US contributions to the Global Fund on a 2 for 1 basis, setting the bar for US contributions at 33 percent of the Fund's total needs.
According to the Global Fund's current projections, it will need to budget up to $5.25 billion next year in order to continue financing ongoing grants ($2.0 billion) and initiate a new grant cycle round ($2.5-$3.25 billion). Based on our longstanding goal of providing a 33 percent match, we support a U.S. contribution of $1.75 billion for FY 2011. While we recognize that this funding estimate represents a sizeable increase for the Global Fund as compared to previous fiscal years, we are confident that there is a demonstrated need for these funds
A strong US contribution to the Global Fund this year is important as the Fund begins its third voluntary replenishment process for 2011-2013. The primary purpose of the replenishment process is to increase the predictability and sustainability of the Global Fund's resource mobilization efforts, and a sizable U.S. contribution will greatly influence how the Fund is able to mobilize additional resources from other donors.
Finally we welcome the Administration's focus on global health issues and its announcement of a new Global Health Initiative (GHI). US global HIV/AIDS programs funded through the Global Fund and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) are critical components of this initiative. In fact, both programs already implement many of the key priorities and principles of the GHI including supporting country ownership, focusing on results and accountability, strengthening health systems, and improving monitoring, evaluation and oversight.
However in order for the Global Health Initiative to be successful, the US must provide additional funding for the Global Fund and for US global AIDS programs under PEPFAR. Without expanded funding beyond the 2-3 percent rate increases provided to both programs over the last few years, it will be incredibly difficult for the GHI to reach its goals to substantially expand access to HIV treatment to more than 4 million people, prevent 12 million new HIV infections, train 140,000 new health workers, or care for 5 million orphans and vulnerable children.
Again, we strongly urge you to include $1.75 billion for the US contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in the FY 2011 appropriations bills. Thank you for your consideration of our request.
Sincerely,
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