[Ip-health] Last chance to sign on: EMERGENCY PEPFER 2 SIGN ON LETTER

[Kaytee Riek]

Reminder: Please have your organization sign on to the urgent letter to
Congress below by COB tomorrow (Wednesday, Jan. 6). A list of current
endorsing organizations is below. To sign on, email 08.stop.aids@gmail.com.

We need to show that the AIDS community is rallying behind this incredible
bill which would dramatically expand the US response to global AIDS.

Thank you!

Kaytee
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[CALL FOR SIGN-ONS - endorsements to: 08.stop.aids@gmail.com]
[Summary of PEPFAR 2 bill attached]

Dear friends in the fight against global AIDS,

February 7th is a momentous event in the history of the fight against
global AIDS. On that day, the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee
on Foreign Affairs will introduce and vote on the second five years of
U.S. Efforts to fight global AIDS. Right now, the draft bill contains
$50 billion - a TWENTY BILLION INCREASE over what the outgoing President
has requested. It sets some historic high water marks for commitment to
support AIDS treatment and prevention, but also goes a long way to move
from emergency to sustainability, with important new sections on health
workforce, health systems, TB and malaria, coordination and integration,
and very substantial new new support for women and girls and evidence-
based prevention.

The excitement around this bill is also allowing several other very
important and overdue initiatives that have not passed on their own to
be attached to this bill, including much of the Microbicides Development
Act and a repeal of the shameful U.S. travel ban against people with HIV.

We need to send the strongest message to Congress to pass this bill, and
we need to deliver this letter before February 7th. Please send
ORGANIZATIONAL endorsements to 08.stop.aids@gmail.com as soon as you can.

THANK YOU!

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Feb 7, 2008

Dear Members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs,

We write as members of the worldwide movement of organizations
concerned about AIDS and global health. We urge you to support passage
of Chair's text of the U.S. Global HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria
Reauthorization Act of 2008 - a renewed and improved version of the
President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

This bill continues and builds on the progress made by current U.S.
Global health initiatives, and affirms U.S. commitments made to achieve
universal access to AIDS treatment, prevention and care, as well as
meeting targets pledged against tuberculosis and malaria.

In addition to providing assistance for prevention of new HIV infections
and treating and caring for people living with HIV/AIDS, the bill also
aims to transition U.S. global AIDS programs from an emergency phase to
a sustainable one. The bill increases flexibility in budget programming,
Allows a more comprehensive approach to prevention including new
activities to address the vulnerabilities of women and children,
strengthening health systems by providing technical and financial
support to countries to develop and implement health workforce plans
and support for training and retaining necessary new health workers,
supporting scientific research for new vaccines, microbicides and
prevention technologies and strengthens coordination efforts across
U.S. agencies on HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria programs.

The bill establishes in legislation a U.S. malaria program, continuing
and building upon the President's Malaria Initiative that has already
contributed greatly to improvements in the fight to eradicate malaria.
It also includes assistance for activities aiming to prevent and stop
the spread of tuberculosis=8Ba disease that knows no borders as witnessed
by the MDR-TB case in the U.S. last spring.

There is a continued need to scale up access to treatment and to get
important new first and second line regimens to more of the people in
clinical need. And to succeed sustainably, impoverished countries must
be substantially supported significant increases the number of health
workers trained -- and supported so they can do their jobs in their
countries of origin. The bill also affirms the U.S. commitment to
support the multilateral Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and
Malaria.

To achieve the goals in prevention, treatment, care and to ensure a
holistic approach to HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria and the health workforce
necessary to keep U.S. commitments, a minimum of $50-to-$59 billion is
needed over five years.

To demonstrate continued U.S. commitment to partners in the developing
world and to show that Americans intend to sustain work against AIDS
worldwide through increased investments and sound policies on global
health, we urge that you support passage of this legislation with at
least $50-$59 billion over five years, and all of the policies and
improved program targets in the current draft bill.

[NOTE: some of these program targets may be added to the final text of
 this letter. See summary attached.]

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

ACT UP Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
ACT UP-Paris, France
Action Group for Health, Human Rights, and HIV/AIDS (AGHA), Uganda
ActionAIDS, Philadelphia, PA
Africa Action, Washington, DC
African Forum of Faith-Based Organisations in Reproductive Health and
HIV/AIDS, Ethoiopia
African Immigrant & Refugee Foundation, Washington, DC
African Services Committee, New York, NY
Afrihealth Information Projects/Afrihealth Optonet Association, Nigeria
Agua Buena Human Rights Association, Costa Rica
AIDES, France
AIDS Treatment News, Philadelphia, PA
AIDS.org
All-Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, Crimean Branch,
Ukraine
American Jewish World Service, New York, NY
American Medical Student Association, USA
Beijing Aizhixing Institute, China
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, Canada
Centre for HIV/AIDS and STD Research, Nigeria
Charitable Female Foundation, Russia
Community Aid Uganda, Uganda
Community HIV/Hepititis Advocates of Iowa Newtork (CHAIN), Iowa
CREAThE O.N.L.U.S, Italy
Dominican Sisters of Hope, USA
European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG), Belgium
Fantsuam Foundation, Nigeria
Fundaci=F3n Huellas, Ecuador
German Doctors for Developing Countries, Germany
Health Equity Project, New York, NY
Health GAP, New York, NY
Housing Works, NY/DC
IFMSA-USA (International Federation of Medical Students' Association), USA
International AIDS Empowerment, El Paso, TX
International Center for Research on Women, Washington, DC
Intersect Worldwide, International
Italian League for Fighting AIDS, Italy
John Snow, Inc, Boston, MA
Joy for Children, Uganda
Live Alive Foundation, Nigeria
Maryknoll Global Concerns, Washington, DC
McGill Global AIDS Coalition, Canada
Mercy Investment Program, USA
Network of Positive Women, Children and Youth, Kenya
NYC AIDS Housing Network (NYCAHN), Brooklyn, NY
Partners in Health, International
People & Planet, UK
Physicians for Human Rights, Boston, MA
Positive Wave Foundation, Russia
Presbyterian Church (USA), Washington, DC
Public Health Impact Research Center, Nigeria
Red Latinoamericana de Personas vividendo con VIH/SIDA (REDLA+), Uruguay
Russian Harm Reducton Network, Russia
Saint Joseph's Matale Youth Organisation (MAYO), Uganda
Sierra Leone Nurses Association, Sierra Leone
Sisters of Mercy Regional Community of Detroit, Detroit, MI
Tanzania National Network of People with HIV/AIDS, Tanzania
The AIDS Institute, Washington, DC
The Women's Center, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY
Union for Reform Judaism, Washington, DC
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, Washington, DC
Usuline Sisters of Tildonk-U.S. Province, Jamaica, NY
VSO, UK
Who's Positive, State College, PA
Women Fighting AIDS in Kenya (WOFAK), Kenya
Women Organized to Respond to Life-threatening Diseases (WORLD), Oakland, C=
A

--
Kaytee Riek
Grassroots Organizer
Health GAP (Global Access Project)
phone: 267-334-6984
kaytee@healthgap.org
www.healthgap.org