February 06, 2006
“While we have seen a modest increase in funds to combat the global AIDS pandemic, the President’s budget still falls short of what is needed to effectively fight this disease,” said Lee. “The global AIDS pandemic is quite simply the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time, and providing the funding and leadership necessary to defeat it is not only the moral thing to do, it is in our national interest.”
The budget included $4 billion in total for Global AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria programs, an increase of $600 million amount over last year, but far less than is needed to provide care and treatment to the estimated 40 million people currently living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, or to prevent the nearly 5 million new infections that will occur this year. Global experts have estimated that $24 billion is needed in 2007 to provide prevention, care, and treatment for the HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria pandemics.
Lee, along with 73 of her colleagues, sent a letter to President Bush, calling on the administration to increase the fiscal year 2007 budget request for U.S. foreign assistance programs to address global HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria to $7.54 billion – with at least $1.2 billion of that directed through the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, a call that was endorsed by over 50 civil society organizations, including the Global Health Council and Global AIDS Alliance.
The administration’s budget request includes $600 million under Health and Human Services (no increase from last year) and $3.4 billion in Foreign Operations, increase of about $600 million over FY06. The request for the Global Fund is approximately $300 million, $250 million less than FY06.
Lee pointed out that the bulk of increases this year go to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which focuses on 15 individual countries. The administration’s request represents a $250 million (45%) cut in funds for the Global Fund, which covers a wider range of countries and supports a broader spectrum of programs than PEPFAR.
“I am disappointed that the administration has again cut funding for the Global Fund,” said Lee. “While we have seen increases in funding for individual countries, we cannot put our head in the sand and pretend that these countries exist in a vacuum. HIV does not stop at the border of any one nation, and that is why the Global Fund plays such an important role.”
Lee co-authored the Global AIDS and Tuberculosis Relief Act of 2000, which established the framework for the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. To date, the Global Fund has committed $4.4 billion in 128 countries to support aggressive interventions against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. Lee was also a leader in the bipartisan effort to designate $15 billion for the prevention, care, and treatment of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, and she successfully passed legislation in 2005 to focus U.S. foreign assistance on the impact of AIDS on orphans and vulnerable children in developing countries.
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Barbara Lee Responds to President's Global AIDS Budget
(Washington, DC) – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) responded today to the funding levels for global AIDS programs in the fiscal year 2007 budget request President Bush submitted to Congress.“While we have seen a modest increase in funds to combat the global AIDS pandemic, the President’s budget still falls short of what is needed to effectively fight this disease,” said Lee. “The global AIDS pandemic is quite simply the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time, and providing the funding and leadership necessary to defeat it is not only the moral thing to do, it is in our national interest.”
The budget included $4 billion in total for Global AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria programs, an increase of $600 million amount over last year, but far less than is needed to provide care and treatment to the estimated 40 million people currently living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, or to prevent the nearly 5 million new infections that will occur this year. Global experts have estimated that $24 billion is needed in 2007 to provide prevention, care, and treatment for the HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria pandemics.
Lee, along with 73 of her colleagues, sent a letter to President Bush, calling on the administration to increase the fiscal year 2007 budget request for U.S. foreign assistance programs to address global HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria to $7.54 billion – with at least $1.2 billion of that directed through the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, a call that was endorsed by over 50 civil society organizations, including the Global Health Council and Global AIDS Alliance.
The administration’s budget request includes $600 million under Health and Human Services (no increase from last year) and $3.4 billion in Foreign Operations, increase of about $600 million over FY06. The request for the Global Fund is approximately $300 million, $250 million less than FY06.
Lee pointed out that the bulk of increases this year go to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which focuses on 15 individual countries. The administration’s request represents a $250 million (45%) cut in funds for the Global Fund, which covers a wider range of countries and supports a broader spectrum of programs than PEPFAR.
“I am disappointed that the administration has again cut funding for the Global Fund,” said Lee. “While we have seen increases in funding for individual countries, we cannot put our head in the sand and pretend that these countries exist in a vacuum. HIV does not stop at the border of any one nation, and that is why the Global Fund plays such an important role.”
Lee co-authored the Global AIDS and Tuberculosis Relief Act of 2000, which established the framework for the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. To date, the Global Fund has committed $4.4 billion in 128 countries to support aggressive interventions against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. Lee was also a leader in the bipartisan effort to designate $15 billion for the prevention, care, and treatment of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, and she successfully passed legislation in 2005 to focus U.S. foreign assistance on the impact of AIDS on orphans and vulnerable children in developing countries.