Seattle, April 28, 2020 – Malaria No More applauds the bipartisan congressional effort, led by Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Martha Roby (R-AL), calling for $1 billion in emergency funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria’s COVID-19 Response Mechanism, to be included in future COVID-19-related supplemental funding. This allocation would provide emergency support to countries to address COVID-19, while at the same time, protect the progress made against malaria, AIDS and TB. The letter, sent to House Leadership, was signed by 105 Members of Congress.
The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging ongoing efforts and disrupting essential services in the fight against existing epidemics, including malaria, AIDS and TB. According to a recent modeling analysis released by the World Health Organization and partners, severe disruptions to insecticide-treated net campaigns and in access to antimalarial medicines could lead to a doubling in the number of malaria deaths in sub-Saharan Africa this year compared to 2018. Countries are being urged to do their utmost to quickly and safely maintain these essential malaria control services.
Every year, U.S. global health investments in the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria save millions of lives, protect the world’s most vulnerable from disease, and build strong health systems. During an unprecedented global health crisis, U.S. leadership and these continued investments are critical.
Read the letter below or view the PDF version here.
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For more information, contact Taylor Prochnow at +1 206-605-4090 or Taylor.Prochnow@MalariaNoMore.org.
About Malaria No More
Malaria No More envisions a world where no one dies from a mosquito bite. More than a decade into our mission, our work has contributed to historic progress toward this goal. Now, we’re mobilizing the political commitment, funding, and innovation required to achieve what would be one of the greatest humanitarian accomplishments – ending malaria within our generation. For more information, visit www.malarianomore.org.
April 27, 2020
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives H-232, The Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515
The Honorable Kevin McCarthy Republican Leader
H-204, The Capitol Washington, D.C. 20515
CC: Chairwoman Nita Lowey
Ranking Member Kay Granger
Dear Speaker Pelosi and Leader McCarthy,
We write in support of a U.S. contribution of $1 billion to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’s COVID-19 Response Mechanism as part of future COVID-19- related supplemental funding. This allocation would provide emergency support to countries to address COVID-19 and protect fragile gains in the response to AIDS, TB and malaria.
COVID-19 represents an existential threat to ongoing efforts against the epidemics of AIDS, TB, malaria. The Global Fund has already taken several steps to mitigate the damage. On March 4 the Global Fund announced that it was making $500 million available to implementing countries for crucial COVID-19 response activities. On April 9, the Global Fund’s Board unanimously approved an additional $500 million in existing funding for the new COVID-19 Response Mechanism to help countries fight COVID-19 and mitigate its impact on health systems, particularly AIDS, TB, and malaria programs.
The ultimate amount of external funding needed to help developing countries cope with COVID- 19 and mitigate its harm to health systems is unknown; however, the UN currently estimates that an additional $500 billion is needed for emergency health services and related programs. Additionally, a group of 165 leaders and experts wrote an April 6 letter to the G-20 citing the need for $35 billion to support countries with weaker health systems and especially vulnerable populations, plus an immediate $8 billion need to fill gaps in COVID-19 response capacity based on the estimate of the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board.
The Global Fund has enjoyed broad bipartisan support from both the House of Representatives and our colleagues in the Senate. This support has been maintained because the Global Fund has consistently demonstrated concrete progress in saving lives. The Global Fund’s primary advantage is that it can rapidly deliver funding to existing local partners in over 100 countries – with all of the same accountability and transparency it has shown in disbursing roughly $4 billion per year in grant funding. The organization has deep experience in funding the infrastructure and capabilities needed to defeat COVID-19: medical supply chains, laboratories, community health workers, and disease surveillance.
U.S. investment at a time like this does more than fight disease – it helps keep Americans safe. Health security knows no borders and pandemics can bounce back on U.S. citizens. As COVID-
19 spreads to developing countries, it threatens to derail years of progress fighting HIV, TB, and malaria by disrupting essential prevention and treatment services and interrupting supply chains for critical drugs and medical supplies. Experience from recent Ebola outbreaks in Africa has shown that unless mitigating action is taken, the additional death toll from AIDS, TB, and malaria could well exceed the number of deaths from COVID-19 itself. COVID-19 is on a trajectory to overwhelm communities and health systems in developing countries with potentially catastrophic consequences.
Because of its results-oriented, efficient and transparent approach, the Global Fund has received high marks in multilateral aid reviews. Independent watchdogs with the highest standards, including the Multilateral Organization Performance Assessment Network (MOPAN), agree. The U.S. government served as the institutional lead for MOPAN’s recent assessment, which commended the Global Fund for its clear strategic direction, risk management, transparency, accountability, and “low operational budget.” The Global Fund has a strong, independent Inspector General office that reports directly to the Global Fund board and has effective whistleblower and audit functions.
The Global Fund and the U.S. bilateral programs have worked diligently to increasingly integrate their planning and programming over the years. PEPFAR, PMI, and USAID have come to depend on the Global Fund as a trusted partner in saving lives and strengthening health systems.
Our investment in the Global Fund’s COVID-19 Resource Mechanism will no doubt motivate other donors to contribute, just as our commitments in fiscal year 2020 encouraged countries to come forth with strong pledges for the 6th Replenishment.
Importantly, with the establishment of the COVID-19 Response Mechanism the Global Fund is not straying from its core mandate. Indeed, if it does not address the grave challenge presented by COVID-19, the Global Fund, its donors, and their partners risk losing the progress they have fought so hard to achieve.
The U.S. has shown unparalleled leadership in global health. We urge you to maintain that leadership, to set an example for the world, and to invest in defeating COVID-19 and AIDS, TB, and malaria through the Global Fund’s COVID-19 Response Mechanism.
Sincerely,
Barbara Lee, Member of Congress
Martha Roby, Member of Congress
Karen Bass, Member of Congress
Ro Khanna, Member of Congress
Andy Levin, Member of Congress
Tom Malinowski, Member of Congress
Vicente Gonzalez, Member of Congress
Gerald E. Connolly, Member of Congress
Adam Smith, Member of Congress
Will Hurd, Member of Congress
Jerry McNerney, Member of Congress
Jim Himes, Member of Congress
Ann Wagner, Member of Congress
Chris Stewart, Member of Congress
Chrissy Houlahan, Member of Congress
Sylvia R. Garcia, Member of Congress
Joe Neguse, Member of Congress
Christopher H. Smith, Member of Congress
Gregory W. Meeks, Member of Congress
Donna E. Shalala, Member of Congress
Derek Kilmer, Member of Congress
Donald S. Beyer, Jr., Member of Congress
Donald M. Payne, Jr., Member of Congress
Eleanor Holmes Norton, Member of Congress
James P. McGovern, Member of Congress
Jim Costa, Member of Congress
Lloyd Doggett, Member of Congress
Brian Fitzpatrick, Member of Congress
David B. McKinley, P.E., Member of Congress
Bonnie Watson Coleman, Member of Congress
Suzan DelBene, Member of Congress
Jackie Speier, Member of Congress
Daniel T. Kildee, Member of Congress
Tom Cole, Member of Congress
Brenda L. Lawrence, Member of Congress
Richard E. Neal, Member of Congress
Mike Doyle, Member of Congress
Jahana Hayes, Member of Congress
Don Young, Member of Congress
André Carson, Member of Congress
Robin L. Kelly, Member of Congress
Eddie Bernice Johnson, Member of Congress
Judy Chu, Member of Congress
Mark Pocan, Member of Congress
Jimmy Panetta, Member of Congress
Gilbert R. Cisneros, Jr., Member of Congress
Peter A. DeFazio, Member of Congress
C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, Member of Congress
Sheila Jackson Lee, Member of Congress
Denny Heck, Member of Congress
Pramila Jayapal, Member of Congress
David Trone, Member of Congress
Rosa L. DeLauro, Member of Congress
Ed Case, Member of Congress
Danny K. Davis, Member of Congress
Colin Z. Allred, Member of Congress
Wm. Lacy Clay, Member of Congress
Grace Meng, Member of Congress
Katie Porter, Member of Congress
Earl Blumenauer, Member of Congress
Harley Rouda, Member of Congress
David E. Price, Member of Congress
Rashida Tlaib, Member of Congress
Ted Deutch, Member of Congress
Jamie Raskin, Member of Congress
Joaquin Castro, Member of Congress
Rick Larsen, Member of Congress
Betty McCollum, Member of Congress
Chuck Fleischmann, Member of Congress
Anthony G. Brown, Member of Congress
Lisa Blunt Rochester, Member of Congress
John Yarmuth, Member of Congress
Bobby L. Rush, Member of Congress
Adriano Espaillat, Member of Congress
John P. Sarbanes, Member of Congress
Ted W. Lieu, Member of Congress
Suzanne Bonamici, Member of Congress
William R. Timmons, IV, Member of Congress
Anna G. Eshoo, Member of Congress
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, Member of Congress
Bill Foster, Member of Congress
Deb Haaland, Member of Congress
Maxine Waters, Member of Congress
William R. Keating, Member of Congress
Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr., Member of Congress
Mark Takano, Member of Congress
Dave Loebsack, Member of Congress
Alma S. Adams, Ph.D., Member of Congress
Debbie Dingell, Member of Congress
Al Green, Member of Congress
Linda T. Sánchez, Member of Congress
Zoe Lofgren, Member of Congress
TJ Cox, Member of Congress
Jennifer Wexton, Member of Congress
Rob Woodall, Member of Congress
Chellie Pingree, Member of Congress
Darren Soto, Member of Congress
Susan W. Brooks, Member of Congress
Stephanie Murphy, Member of Congress
Lizzie Fletcher, Member of Congress
Bill Flores, Member of Congress
Mary Gay Scanlon, Member of Congress
Mike Levin, Member of Congress
Nydia M. Velazquez, Member of Congress
Ami Bera, M.D., Member of Congress
