Ensure future for Global Fund or 'forfeit' chance at 'AIDS-free generation'

Feb 3 2012

In this New York Times opinion piece, Paul Farmer, chair of the department of global health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School and a co-founder of Partners in Health, examines the importance of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as it faces a "serious financial shortfall," writing, "Beyond AIDS, the Global Fund is currently the largest donor in the world for tuberculosis and malaria programs. ... The question is not whether the Global Fund works, but how to ensure it keeps working for years to come."

Farmer highlights four reasons why ensuring a future for the Global Fund is imperative, writing, "First, the world needs to expand, not contract, access to health care because of the sheer burden of disease"; "Second, the Fund doesn't simply give handouts; it takes the longer road of investing in and working with health ministries"; "Third, the Global Fund proves how much multilateral organizations can accomplish"; and "Fourth, a recession is a lousy excuse to starve one of the best (and only) instruments we have for helping people who live on a few dollars a day." He concludes, "Simply put, if we allow the fund to fail, many people will die, and we will forfeit the chance at the 'AIDS-free generation' that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for in November. This is no time to step back" (2/1).