AHF to congress: keep PEPFAR funding priority on AIDS treatment

With a bipartisan voice vote earlier today, The House Foreign Affairs Committee today passed House Resolution 5501 (the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act), a bill to reauthorize the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the US global AIDS program.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation(AHF)( www.aidshealth.org) commended the Committee for removing a controversial and counterproductive ‘ abstinence-only ' funding component in the bill. However, AHF sharply criticized the Committee and Congress for removing a current requirement that 55% of all PEPFAR funds be spent on AIDS treatment, a change which AHF believes will undermine the success the global AIDS treatment plan has had to date.

“ We are extremely disappointed that the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved this version of the bill to reauthorize PEPFAR, legislation which unfortunately now removes the requirement of a 55% floor for funding for AIDS treatment, a change which threatens the very focus and success of this worthy program, ” said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which operates free AIDS treatment clinics in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and Asia. “ And while we applaud the Committee ' s commitment of $50 billion to the program and the removal of abstinence-only requirements in the bill that have ham-strung PEPFAR in its lifesaving efforts, we strongly urge Congress to revisit and amend this bill to restore the 55% treatment funding floor in order to keep PEPFAR ' s funding and focus on providing lifesaving medical treatment — including the delivery of antiretroviral treatment — to the HIV/AIDS patients served by this landmark US humanitarian effort. ”

“ By seeking to do so many worthy things — nutrition aid, legal empowerment of women, care for orphans and vulnerable children — this bill virtually guarantees that none of it will be done right, and none of these problems will be significantly alleviated, much less solved, ” said Tom Myers, General Counsel for AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “ The new $50 billion proposal approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee today does everything but care for those with HIV/AIDS. Without access to HIV care, people living with HIV/AIDS will die. We are asking Congress to restore the 55% floor for the funding of lifesaving medical treatment. ”

AIDS Healthcare Foundation believes that a successful global AIDS bill must include:

• A 55% treatment floor and a goal to treat 10 million people by 2013: This requirement will ensure that AIDS treatment gets to all those who are sick while helping prevent the spread of HIV.
• Clear and ambitious testing requirements: Individuals unaware of their HIV status spread the majority of new infections and HIV testing must be scaled up to stop this trend.
• Fiscal accountability: The billions of US dollars being appropriated is enough to meet the treatment needs of those with HIV/AIDS as long as Congress ensures spending is prioritized for core medical services.

PEPFAR was the result of President Bush's groundbreaking 2003 State of the Union pledge to bring two million HIV positive Africans and others into treatment and prevent seven million new HIV infections via a five-year, $15 billion US-funded program. It currently operates in 15 focus countries and claims to support antiretroviral treatment for 1.4 million people worldwide. PEPFAR has been one of the most successful global humanitarian programs in recent memory, providing medical care to millions of people with HIV/AIDS, it has given hope to the 33 million people with HIV/AIDS in the world.

About AHF

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is the nation ' s largest non-profit HIV/AIDS healthcare, research, prevention and education provider. AHF currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 62,000 individuals in 20 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and Asia. Additional information is available at www.aidshealth.org