RESULTS Applauds President’s Global Fund Budget Request

Joanne Carter, Executive Director of RESULTS, released the following statement in response to President Obama’s fiscal year 2014 budget request to Congress, which includes $1.65 billion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Today President Obama helped move us an important step closer to the defeat of AIDS, TB, and malaria by providing $1.65 billion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in his budget. With U.S. support, Global Fund investments are currently saving a million lives each year. Every $1 the U.S contributes to the Global Fund is historically matched by $2 from other donors. We look forward to Congress continuing its bipartisan support of the Global Fund by fully funding the president’s request.

The president’s request provides critical global leadership and sets the tone for a successful donor pledging conference this fall. Under the leadership of Dr. Mark Dybul, the Global Fund is seeking to mobilize $15 billion at its replenishment conference to implement the scientific and implementation breakthroughs that can break the backs of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases. The president should build on his budget request by making a three-year, $5 billion pledge to the Global Fund for the fall replenishment.

The Global Fund is dependent on the success of PEPFAR and bilateral investments in TB. We urge Congress to ensure PEPFAR is fully funded to reach the goal of an AIDS free generation, and proposed cuts to TB programs are reversed to fight the dangerous rise of drug-resistant TB.

The president’s budget also takes the welcome step of overhauling U.S. food aid, including ending the wasteful practice of monetization where U.S. produced commodities are sold overseas to fund development programs. Smart reforms support local farmers and increase the number of people receiving food assistance with a more efficient use of U.S. dollars. RESULTS also applauds the administration’s request to fully fund its pledge to the GAVI Alliance to provide life-saving vaccinations in poor countries, and its request for authorization to fund multilateral efforts to get kids in school like the Global Partnership for Education. These proposals would measurably improve the lives of the some of the poorest and most marginalized populations on the planet, and we urge Congress to support them.