Sen. Durbin Introduces Legislation To Authorize $3.35B in Funding To Fight Global AIDS
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) yesterday introduced a bill (S 250) that would authorize $3.35 billion in the next budget to combat HIV/AIDS worldwide and coordinate the government's response to the pandemic, according to a statement from Durbin's office. The Global Coordination of HIV/AIDS Response Act, or the Global CARE Act, includes four major goals for assisting countries, including:
- Better coordination among U.S. agencies active in the global AIDS fight;
- A "clear articulation" of the comprehensive responses against HIV/AIDS, including prevention, treatment and care initiatives, as well as investment in health systems and economies;
- "Increased accountability" for health and policy initiatives that are operating in countries affected by AIDS; and
- The mobilization of the "most effective human and capacity-building tools" to address the epidemic.
The bill also includes a strategic planning initiative to help ensure that U.S. funds are well spent; the establishment of an interagency working group to coordinate federal programs related to prevention, treatment and monitoring; an orphan relief and microcredit component; funding for a Global Physicians Corps, which would enlist working and retired physicians in the international HIV/AIDS fight; and a pilot program to provide a "limited procurement" of antiretroviral drugs and technical assistance to programs in host countries. The bill would authorize $2.1 billion of the $3.35 billion to go toward the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and $1.25 billion would be authorized for federal agencies that have existing HIV/AIDS programs, such as the CDC, the NIH and the Department of Defense. Durbin said that the scope of the AIDS crisis and its projected growth make U.S. action urgent. "This week, President Bush stood before the nation and the world and identified global AIDS as a top priority. He proposed a generous sum of money to tackle the crisis, and that was the right thing to do," Durbin said, adding that his initiative will push the issue forward. "This bill attempts to ensure that this Congress and this administration does not ignore a global emergency many of us feel was not adequately addressed in the past," Durbin said (Durbin release, 1/30).
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