Dear Editor: Over the past 15 years, we’ve made immense progress in the global AIDS fight, but the disease remains a deadly crisis. Every day, the AIDS epidemic claims over 2,000 lives.
Now that there’s been an agreement on the budget, it’s important that Congress sends a clear signal to the world that America intends to continue our historic one-third commitment to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, one of the most effective and efficient health partnerships on the planet. I am Gambian and myself experienced malaria at the age of 14. It was terrible. This disease makes you weak, you can’t eat and for older adults it may make it impossible to care for their family and affect your ability to keep a job.
Today, the countries most affected by AIDS and malaria are contributing more to the fight than ever before. But, the battle is far from over and the United States must continue to play a critical leadership role.
Viruses like HIV do not respect borders. Sen. Johnson and Sen. Baldwin, help us win the fight against AIDS by supporting America’s one-third commitment to the Global Fund ($1.56 billion), which will be used to incentivize billions of dollars in investments from other donors and save millions of innocent lives.
Ebou Jarju
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