March 24, 2026
Faith leaders urge Congress to fully fund the Global Fund
Today, Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and 235 members of the Faith-Based Coalition for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria sent a letter to the leaders of House and Senate Appropriations Committee on investment in the Global Fund in Fiscal Year 2027.
Click here to read the full letter
Dear Chairman Cole, Ranking Member DeLauro, Chairman Diaz-Balart, Ranking Member Frankel, Senator Collins, Senator Murray, Senator Graham and Senator Schatz:
As leaders of faith communities across the nation, we are called to care for the most vulnerable, recognizing the inherent dignity of every person. We believe our government should embody that spirit as well. At this moment of profound global need, we ask you to continue supporting the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria—the global partnership that has already saved 70 million lives and reduced the combined death rate from AIDS, TB and malaria by 63%.
For more than two decades, Americans of faith have been able to count on their representatives in Congress to maintain U.S. leadership in the Global Fund. Thanks to that leadership, the Global Fund and its partners have achieved incredible results. In 2024 alone, Global Fund-supported programs helped place 25.6 million people on antiretroviral therapy for HIV, provided tuberculosis treatment to 7.4 million people, including 120,000 people with drug-resistant TB and distributed 162 million insecticide-treated mosquito nets to protect families from malaria. These programs are designed and implemented with local communities and oftentimes faith-based organizations, which have received over $4 billion as of December 2025.
The Global Fund protects mothers and their babies living in vulnerable circumstances from deadly, painful diseases—precisely the most vulnerable and “least among us” to whom Scripture calls us to offer care. In 2024, 648,000 mothers living with HIV received medicines to keep themselves healthy and prevent transmission to their babies. That same year, 50.9 million children received seasonal malaria chemoprevention and 17.8 million pregnant women received preventive treatment for malaria, both interventions that save lives among those most vulnerable to disease.
In November 2025, the United States made a bold pledge to the Global Fund’s replenishment campaign: $4.6 billion over the next three years. Corresponding to the second year of three in the cycle, we urge you and your colleagues to fulfill one-third of that commitment by appropriating $1.533 billion for the Global Fund in fiscal year 2027.
We will not have to go it alone. Other donors have matched U.S. contributions two-to-one since this partnership began, and we encourage you to restore that as a requirement in law. Moreover, the Global Fund has a concerted policy to require governments receiving grants to offer their own co-financing, grow their investment in their own people and plan for sustainable programs as they take on more ownership of them. U.S. support for the Global Fund propels authorities in low- and middle-income countries to increasingly serve the basic needs of all populations, however poor or neglected.
In addition, we ask that you ensure all previously appropriated money is made available to the Global Fund, so that we can save as many lives as possible. Maintaining that provision from your enacted fiscal year 2026 bill is an important message.
American leadership and investment in the Global Fund save lives, protects families and encourages other countries to do more. It reflects the values that faith communities across our nation hold dear: compassion, shared responsibility and faithful stewardship of resources. We respectfully urge you to continue supporting the Global Fund and ensuring the U.S. fulfills its leadership role in the global fight against HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. It is an achievable mission worthy of all believers and represents a truly strong America.
Sincerely,
Senator Bill Frist, MD
Chairman, Advisory Board, 2030 Collaborative