‘Dear America’: A Video Calling for U.S. Support of the Global Fund

A special thanks to our partners for providing video footage, including the Global Fund, the Global Fund Advocates Network, FedNet/Getty Images, and Grassroot Soccer in Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

This powerful video calls for Congress to honor existing U.S. commitments to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (Global Fund) by appropriating $1.35 billion for FY 2019. Global health investments represent a tiny fraction of the U.S. budget – just a quarter of 1 percent. The Administration’s proposed cuts of $425 million to the Global Fund for FY 2019 would significantly undermine our ability to save lives, protect health security and grow economies, including here at home. Steady investment in the Global Fund and partners is crucial to ending the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria for good.

The global community has come so far in the fight against these diseases that we’re now at a tipping point. We must push forward to keep from falling back. A loss in momentum would affect the Global Fund’s ability to save millions of lives and risk the resurgence of major disease killers.

The good news is that we can stop that from happening. For every $100 million contributed, the Global Fund is able to support programs that:

  • Save 133,000 lives
  • Avert 1.9 million new infections or cases across all three diseases
  • Spur $300 million in domestic investment for health, and
  • Create $2.2 billion in long-term economic gains.

That’s a significant return on investment that we can’t risk losing to proposed budget cuts.

We encourage you to watch “Dear America,” share it on social media and with your family, friends and colleagues, and use our social media toolkit and infographic below to show your support of the Global Fund and U.S. international assistance. Making your voice heard on this issue is crucial to saving and improving lives around the world. Our team at Friends appreciates your effort on behalf of the Global Fund and global health.