ARC Urges Americans To Help Fight Global Health Crisis

American Refugee Committee
Wednesday, 26 June 2002

The American Refugee Committee today urged Americans to join a campaign to battle the global health crisis, calling the death toll from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria unconscionable.

ARC, launching a Global Campaign for Refugee Health, said more money was urgently needed for an international fund that has been set up to fight the three diseases. "Please ask your congressional representatives to fight as hard as they can to give this fund the money it needs to wage a true battle against the misery caused by these devastating diseases," said ARC President Hugh Parmer.

ARC launched its advocacy campaign at a seminar at the University of Minnesota today featuring presentations by international and local TB specialists.

The Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was set up in 2001 after U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan issued an urgent "call to action." The fund has raised more than $2 billion from governments and private sources. But that is only 11 percent of the money it needs, according to a report issued in April by UNAIDS, UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

Parmer praised Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone for co-sponsoring a bill to increase U.S. funding of initiatives to combat HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria, including $2.2 billion for the Global Fund. The bill, S. 2525, was introduced by Senators John Kerry of Massachusetts and Bill Frist of Tennessee and approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on June 13.

But actual funding decisions will be made by the Senate and House Appropriations Committees later this year. Parmer urged the Minnesota congressional delegation to give the leadership of both parties the strong message that they should accept no less than the amounts in the Kerry-Frist bill.

"This is a matter of life and death for millions of people around the world," he said.

For more information, or to contact American Refugee Committee, see their website at: www.archq.org