PHR CAMPAIGNS

PHR Action Center

Bring Life Saving Global AIDS Legislation to a Vote Now

The greatly improved and expanded version of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is stalled in the Senate's legislative process. The bill authorizes $50 billion in funding and largely focuses on evidence- and human rights-based treatment, prevention and care programs. It must be passed as quickly as possible.

The Senate might not consider PEPFAR reauthorization at all this year. With 15,000 new infections every day in sub-Saharan Africa, over 60% of them among women and young girls, we can't afford any delays in renewing US commitment to fighting AIDS.

Please contact your Senators today and ask them to support the swift passage of this lifesaving bill.

PHR will also convey your support to the Senate leaders, Senators Reid (D-NV) and McConnell (R-KY).

Feel free to personalize the beginning of this message in the text box, below, to let your Senators know why AIDS is an important issue for you.

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Don't Stall PEPFAR Authorization

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I am writing to urge you to make the reauthorization of PEPFAR a high priority in the Senate. As health professionals and students, we are all too familiar with the devastation HIV/AIDS is causing around the world and we have seen the difference that PEPFAR has made in saving and improving the lives of millions of people living with HIV.

I am concerned that S. 2731 appears to be stalled in the Senate. The bill was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee months ago, but still has not been scheduled for consideration on the Senate floor. Time is running out on the legislative calendar. We need your strong leadership to move PEPFAR forward and show that the United States remains a global leader committed to fighting AIDS.

The legislation reauthorizing PEPFAR, S. 2731 continues and strengthens this commitment by ensuring that programs are designed to meet unique local treatment, care, and prevention needs appropriately for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria epidemics. It also addresses the growing feminization of the epidemic and will strengthen the local health workforce. If S. 2731 is passed in the next few weeks, the President can use this commitment as leverage at the July G-8 meeting in Japan to encourage other countries to make similar commitments to AIDS relief.

Thank you for your efforts in getting this important legislation passed.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
May 20, 2008

Background Information

A small group of Senators has placed a legislative hold on PEPFAR reauthorization, effectively stopping it from moving any further in the legislative process. Michael Gerson’s recent column in the Washington Post goes into more detail.

One of the greatest obstacles to continued progress in the fight against AIDS is the dire shortage of health workers, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. The World Health Organization has identified 57 countries, including 36 in Africa, where the current lack of health workers makes it "very unlikely" that they will achieve the health-related Millennium Development Goals, aimed at reversing the spread of AIDS, malaria and other major diseases and significantly reducing child and maternal mortality.

In Africa, people are dying unnecessarily because there are simply not enough health care workers. Health workers--nurses, doctors, pharmacists, community health workers, laboratory technicians, physician assistants, nurse assistants, mental health workers, managers, and many more—are at the core of health systems everywhere. They diagnose and treat diseases, educate and care for patients and develop and implement policies and strategies to combat disease. But in sub-Saharan Africa, a mere 3% of the world's health workers struggle against all odds to treat 14% of the world's population and combat 24% of the global disease burden.

The current Senate bill contains provisions to train new health care workers, but it will take, on average, 5 years to train the next generation. If we really want to get a handle on fighting this disease the time to act is now.

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