Obama Administration Needs to Boost HIV/AIDS Funding, Says Global AIDS Alliance Chief

"Unless the United States switches course and dramatically increases its funding for the global fight against AIDS, we could lose millions of lives and a generation of progress. Many AIDS advocates and I have a sinking feeling the HIV/AIDS strategy in the Obama White House is not getting significant senior-level attention," Paul Zeitz, executive director of the Global AIDS Alliance, writes in a NJToday.net opinion piece.

The article examines President Obama's pledges to increase funding for PEPFAR and the U.S. contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. "As it now stands, PEPFAR likely will receive only a nominal increase next year," and "since Obama came into office, U.S. donations to the Global Fund have flat-lined," the author writes. Zeitz calls on Obama to "prove to his allies, detractors and the world community that AIDS funding is still a priority in America" and "revise the White House's position" on support for AIDS' initiatives (9/23).

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