In preparation for the Global Fund replenishment meeting next week, the Born HIV Free campaign, the U.N. Foundation and other partner organizations have come out with some fantastic and powerful videos to help educate people on the importance and value of the Fund. Each one presents a clear cut case for why the Global Fund is a key agent in drastically improving the state of public health in countries that are suffering the worst from these sweeping epidemics.
The first (and my personal favorite) is the documentary, “A New Picture of Health”, produced by the U.N. Foundation and narrated by Dr. Jane Goodall. The video delivers a comprehensive narrative history of the Global Fund, how it works, and how its initiatives are saving countless lives day in and day out. Watch the trailer above, then go to Vimeo to watch the full version.
We hope that the publication — which chronicles stories from African individuals and communities who are positively impacted by the Global Fund and features real voices from patients on the ground — inspires countries to donate to the Fund before the replenishment meeting on October 4.
Pledges for the Global Fund for 2011 to 2013 have started to roll in from around the world. Though we’ll save our detailed analysis of the pledges until October 5, when the official replenishment meeting ends, we wanted to keep you up to speed in the interim with pledges made so far:
In response to ONE’s latest video, “No Child Born With HIV By 2015,”Dr. Neil Mandsager — a ONE member, an OB/GYN and board member for ChildVoice International — shares his experience with helping expecting HIV-positive women prevent the spread of the virus to their babies:
“We can stop this”
As an obstetrician working with high-risk pregnancies, I now see women with HIV who have essentially zero risk of passing the virus onto their unborn baby because of the medications they are taking. But I work in the U.S., where these medications are readily available, even to women without private insurance. I also have provided medical care in Northern Uganda over the past few years where these medications are often unavailable.
Neil Mandsager, MD and a new baby
And in Northern Uganda, as in many other developing countries where HIV is a major problem, women with HIV — through no fault of their own — continue to pass on the virus to their babies. Oftentimes, these infected babies will then die at a very young age.
We can stop this. We know how to bring the level of the virus in pregnant women down to such a low level that her baby will not become infected with the virus, even with a normal vaginal delivery. I applaud ONE in taking on this cause, encouraging countries like the U.S. to step up and make these drugs available to all women around the world. I encourage you to go to ONE.org and speak up for those who can’t.
Alright, world leaders — it’s either now or never. That’s the sentiment that Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Ambassador to the Global Fund and wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, expressed in her article on the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in the Huffington Post last week.
“The choice now facing political leaders is either making sure that funds are secured to put everyone who needs it on treatment — a key objective if HIV/AIDS is to be vanquished– or, instead, walking away and missing what may be a now-or-never opportunity,” she said.
CEO of Sojourners Jim Wallis has an excellent piece at CNN.com today in which he calls on President Obama to commit $6 billion to the Global Fund over the next 3 years.
In his piece, he writes:
The result of bold American leadership led to nothing short of a historic wave of success. Today, nearly four million Africans are on life saving HIV/AIDS medicines, up from 50,000 in 2002. President Bush’s legacy in the fight against global AIDS is strong, but much more needs to be done.
Barack Obama campaigned on a promise to continue that leadership. But today, his promise has yet to be kept. Fortunately, it’s not too late for him to do so.
The economy is complicated and there are lots of conflicting opinions as to what the best policy is to get it headed in the right direction. The health care system has been a mess and improvements to it are going to take a while and will be pretty complicated. Immigration reform is simply being blocked by Republicans and Democrats haven’t had the courage to lead on it.
But when it comes to turning back the AIDS pandemic and ending extreme poverty, we have a very clear path forward. There are 192 nations that committed to the Millennium Development Goals in 2001. They are a series of eight targeted goals that would produce dramatic results in turning back the tide of global pandemics and reducing extreme poverty, and they gave us a roadmap as to how this all could happen by 2015.
U.S. leadership on these goals and the work to back them up have received broad bipartisan support within Congress. Countries across the world are now in tough economic straits, so if the United States falters in its leadership the huge successes these goals have already accomplished could stall.
Unfortunately, one major source of funding to fight AIDS, The Presidents Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) has been neglected.
During his campaign, President Obama made a promise to increase PEPFAR funding by $1 billion a year if elected. Last year, the White House recommended a small increase of funding from $6.6 billion to $6.7 billion. It looks like PEPFAR will receive only a small increase this year. That’s a broken promise.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is an international public-private partnership that’s leading the global fight against these diseases. In the past decade the Global Fund has provided AIDS treatment for 2.8 million people, TB treatment for 7 million people and provided 122 million bed nets to protect families from malaria.
Please read the whole thing here. It’s absolutely worth it, I promise. Also, join Jim Wallis and ONE in calling on President Obama to support the Global Fund here.
From online petitions to angry baby protests, it’s hard to miss ONE’s focus on the Global Fund and our goal to ensure that virtually no child is born with HIV by 2015. But throughout this campaign, many of you have rightfully asked, “How does this exactly work?”
It’s a miracle of modern medical technology that we’re able to prevent the mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT). To help you understand, we’ve created a CliffsNotes version of how it works:
Right now, some of the world's biggest oil companies are fighting to keep some of their deals with foreign governments secret. Let's tell big oil we won't be bullied.
Cuts to poverty-fighting programs won't balance the budget, but they will set back progress on Canada's development priorities and risk jeopardizing existing investments.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
