There is good news out of Washington: even with its low approval rating, Congress has been supporting bi-partisan funding to fund the Global Fund Initiative since 2002. With your tax dollars the Initiative has been leading the way in efforts to treat, prevent or cure malaria, tuberculosis (TB) and HIV-AIDS.
The number of children dying of malaria has been cut in half in the last decade, but a child still dies every 60 seconds from this preventable disease. This means that lives are being saved, children are spending more time in the classroom instead of the hospital, and families are saving the money they used to pay for medical bills. There has also been tremendous success in preventing mother-to-child HIV-AIDS transmission.
In the US Malaria was eliminated a long time ago, people have access to the TB vaccine and HIV-AIDS treatment is better than in most places in the world. The US has been leading the way in the fight against malaria, HIV-AIDS and TB globally.
Be a part of this effort; keep crucial funding to fight malaria, tuberculosis and HIV-AIDS safe from deficit cuts. Please, take two minutes of your precious time, call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask for your senators’ and/or representative’s office. After you have taken action, we encourage you to share your experience with us. Send an email to bahati@afjn.org detailing your experience!
You may also want to watch “The Global Fund’s 2012 End-Year Results at a Glance” video clip.
By Jacques Bahati