Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Dec. 1 was the 24th international anniversary of World AIDS Day. In the 30 years of the epidemic, AIDS has killed 30 million people and is the biggest killer of women of child-bearing age.
In 2010, there was a 10 percent decrease in AIDS funding, and now we learn that the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is out of funds to make new grants for research and treatment until 2014.
Congress needs to be educated about the good news:
The price of AIDS drugs fell this year so that even with limited funding, 6 million people can obtain treatment.
The latest research shows that 96 percent of AIDS transmission is prevented by drugs and other treatments if started early.
The Global Fund has proven it's an effective, efficient, self-policing organization. It deserves our support as the primary avenue to ending AIDS.
We failed to act quickly when AIDS first started more than 30 years ago. The public and Congress should know that new research shows hope for the end of AIDS.
Sue Oehser, Jim Driggers and Gail Dolson
volunteer activists with RESULTS, an anti-poverty lobby
©2011 Bay Area News Group