U.S. Lawmakers Should Not Slow AIDS Funding

According to a Concord Monitor opinion piece, PEPFAR has "fostered self-reliance ... strengthened drug supply and delivery systems ... trained new health care workers," and the impact of U.S. tax dollars has been "multiplied" by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. "A slow-down now in U.S. global AIDS funding could compound drug shortages and treatment disruptions already threatening HIV programs in the developing world," according Jodie Ann Dionne-Odom, a medical doctor who has worked in Africa. She concludes that as lawmakers "make vital funding decisions in the coming weeks," they should consider that these programs cost "less than one tenth of 1 percent of our budget, and the lives saved are priceless" (7/20).

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