UNIVERSITY COALITIONS for GLOBAL HEALTH

PEPFAR is probably not a term most people in the United States hear every day, but around the world, PEPFAR has become one of our nation’s most successful ambassadors. The initials stand for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. People in developing countries, particularly in Africa, know it means life-saving help. In the 15 countries that PEPFAR serves, U.S. approval ratings are among the highest anywhere in the world.

Congress is considering reauthorization of the U.S. PEPFAR for another five years, yet, sadly, the bill has stalled in the Senate. It is urgent that the Senate move this forward, not only for the sake of the millions of people in need of lifesaving AIDS medication, or the millions of orphans the AIDS pandemic has left in its wake, but also because of the value PEPFAR has to the U.S. in shaping and improving the way the rest of the world sees us. The children of today will not forget that PEPFAR saved their mothers with antiretroviral medicine or helped provide skills training for their transformation into adulthood when there were no other options. The $50 billion price tag is clearly worth the money in lives saved, and the goodwill PEPFAR brings to the U.S. in the eyes of other nations has a value that should not be underestimated.

What will become of the children orphaned by AIDS if PEPFAR is not fully funded? In communities across the globe heavily impacted by AIDS and poverty children face challenges every day that no child should ever have to consider. Too many must ask: Should I go to school, or, instead, stay at home to find food and care for my family? Orphans and vulnerable children are far more susceptible to a host of dangers than children with healthy parents and stable communities to care for them. These dangers include being forcibly recruited into a rebel army, a child sex trafficking ring, or child labor. So, we must realize that if we invest in the future of these children now we make everyone’s future a better, safer place.

While 10 percent of PEPFAR funding is dedicated to assisting orphans and vulnerable children, the bill will also help keep children from being orphaned in the first place. PEPFAR is, in effect, “orphan prevention.” PEPFAR improves the future for the world’s children and is an effective use of taxpayer dollars.

Some may say that foreign aid is a waste of money, but tell that to the 1.4 million people receiving life-saving antiretroviral medicine through the U.S. program, enabling parents to care for their children and pass down important lessons and traditions. PEPFAR provides care to millions of aunts, uncles and neighbors allowing them to go to the office, till the fields and be productive, contributing members of society. It has built health-care infrastructure increasing the number of doctors and nurses to keep communities healthy. It creates lasting, widespread goodwill towards the U.S. among the nations and the people it helps. Helping children means keeping parents alive, communities thriving and holding the social fabric of societies together. Children everywhere have a better shot at life and make better choices when they have parents to guide them, healthy communities and stable nations to grow up in.

A great deal is at stake as the Senate is considering the reauthorization of PEPFAR. It is a moment when the support of Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and leadership of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is critical. They and the rest of the Senate should pass this bill and do so quickly for President Bush to use it to leverage other countries to also give more in effective aid when the G-8 meets in Japan this July. The $50 billion for PEPFAR might be seen as an investment in developing countries; however, it is actually a key investment in the future for the United States and the rest of the world. by Jennifer Deleny

Hi folks– a much needed PEPFAR update from Pete at Physicians for Human Rights! Read below for the full scope or check out Pete’s blog.

As you may know, the House of Representatives has already passed their version of the PEPFAR program. The next step in the process for the bill to become law (think schoolhouse rock) is for the Senate to pass their version of the bill. Any differences between the two bills will be sorted out in a conference committee, made up of key stakeholders from the House and Senate, which then sends the bill to the President to sign into law.

We still have a big fight ahead of us to get the best possible bill signed into law. Unfortunately, a group of fiscal conservatives in the Senate, led by Tom Coburn (R-OK), are using a procedural hold to stop the bill from going to the floor of the Senate. Michael Gerson has written a great op-ed in the Washington Post, which explains:

The seven, led by Coburn, complain that the reauthorization is too costly. They object to “mission creep”—the funding of “food, water, treatment of other infectious diseases, gender empowerment programs, poverty alleviation programs”—as though people surviving on AIDS treatment do not need to eat, work or get their TB treated. And the senators are concerned that AIDS funds might be used for things such as abortion referrals and needle distribution, though the legislation doesn’t mention these possibilities. So they are pushing for the extension of a superfluous spending mandate requiring that at least 55 percent of PEPFAR resources be used for treatment, on the theory that this will starve “feckless or morally dubious” prevention programs.

Gerson emphasizes that there is no way to control the epidemic with treatment alone.

Given that there are about 2.5 new HIV infections for every person starting on AIDS drugs, there is no way to control the pandemic through treatment alone. And because treatment is less expensive than it used to be, PEPFAR is meeting its treatment goal for less money. The 55 percent treatment floor would force the program to waste money in pursuit of an arbitrary, nonsensical spending target— the worst kind of congressional earmark.

The implementation of PEPFAR has shattered the old conceptions that it is simply too expensive to treat people with AIDS. We’ve also learned over the last 5 years that ABC only prevention strategies tie the hands of implementers on the ground and do not work, especially not for women who now comprise 60% of those living with AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.

As I’ve noted before, the current versions of the House and Senate bills are based on series of compromises—some of which are good and some of which are not so good. One area we are fighting for improvement on is the integration of family planning services with HIV/AIDS services as a crucial way to give women access to care. In partnership with other AIDS advocacy organizations, we are working on several fronts to ensure that PEPFAR incorporate evidence- and human rights-based prevention and treatment programs.

Watch your in boxes for some new opportunities to help PHR’s Health Action AIDS Campaign in these efforts by contacting your Senators.

Update 5/16:

Senator Coburn (R-OK), one of the leaders of the current opposition to the speedy passage of PEPFAR, has posted a response to Gerson’s article.

Jordan Sloshower, Research Coordinator in Family Medicine at the University of Manitoba, Canada, tells us about his university’s involvement in the UCGH Week of Action. He also reflects on the reasons for the increasing interest in global health -Stephanie

During the week of March 24, 2008, the University of Manitoba played host to a lecture series on topics related to “Global Health”. This event was part of a larger “Global Health Week of Action” organized by Universities Coalitions for Global Health (UCGH)-a network of international health-focused organizations and individuals with a university presence.

The overarching goal of this international campaign was to bring together medical, graduate and undergraduate students to advocate for the right to health for populations that are underserved by drawing attention to a host of pressing issues, including gender inequality, HIV/AIDS, access to clean water, sanitation and essential medicines, and the global healthcare worker shortage.

Here at the University of Manitoba, lecturers spoke about their groundbreaking work in the field of infectious disease, about HIV/AIDS advocacy and activism, and about the relationship between health, politics and culture. In the lecture series’ keynote address, Professor Emeritus Dr Alan Ronald outlined his experience with the university’s global health initiatives in Kenya, Uganda and India and provided advice for students in health disciplines who wish to “change the world” through their life’s work. As this lecture series coincidentally overlapped with the launch of The University of Manitoba’s Alan Klass Memorial Program for Health Equity and the publication of a two-day report in The Winnipeg Free Press on HIV/AIDS prevention programs in India set up by Manitoba-based researchers and physicians, (1) the question arises, why there is so much interest and activity in the field of global health and health equity?

Part of the answer to this question surely lies in the fact that the search for solutions to global health problems presents unique challenges (and funding opportunities) to researchers who attempt to apply science and technology to the improvement of the human condition. However, an equally significant reason for the recent surge of interest amongst the public and academics worldwide is that achieving global health equity, or fairness in basic health care measures for rich and poor alike, is not just a scientific problem, but also a cultural, political and economic problem deeply rooted in rapidly changing social structures. In other words, the issues raised by the field of global health probe deeper into human consciousness, as they call into question the way we organize our affairs in society and raise ethical questions about our actions in an increasingly interconnected world.

The aforementioned report in the Winnipeg Free Press is illustrative of this point. Rather than focusing on Dr Stephen Moses’ groundbreaking scientific research on the effectiveness of male circumcision in preventing the spread of HIV, the report assumed a more humanistic perspective. By examining the sex-trade in India, the report outlined how underlying social structures and cultural norms on gender roles become embodied as disease in female sex-workers. In so doing, this article effectively conveyed the anthropological observation that “AIDS is a socio-cultural and political-economic phenomenon with biological manifestations.” (2) As a result, preventing HIV/AIDS is not just a problem for medical doctors, but is a complex initiative requiring collaboration between health workers, politicians, development workers, community leaders and ordinary people. The need for such an interdisciplinary approach speaks to the underlying reality that the problems afflicting the health of populations worldwide are symptoms of a web of social, political and economic pathologies that constitute social injustice. Hopefully, the growing interest in global health reflects the realization that assaults against human dignity should not only attract the interest of inquisitive scientists and researchers but should compel all constituents of global civil society into concerted pragmatic action. Jordan Sloshower: sloshowe@cc.umanitoba.ca

References

(1) Skeritt J. Where HIV flourishes:India’s culture makes AIDS campaign an uphill battle. The Winnipeg Free Press 2008 Mar 22. Available from:URL: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/special/aidsindia/story/4147383p-4737039c.html

(2) Marshall W. AIDS, race and the limits of science. Soc Sci Med 2005;60(11):2515-2525.

Hey UCGH!

This morning, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee marked up and approved the Lantos/Hyde Leadership Against AIDS, TB, Malaria Act of 2008 by a vote of 18-3. Though we have not seen the final bill that passed through committee, we understand that the bill is still a $50 billion bill, including $9 billion for TB and malaria. Thank you to all of you who were able call your Senator yesterday and ask them to retain the $50 billion-you’re voices were heard today at the Committee mark up!

Because of all of your amazing efforts we now have a U.S. Global AIDS Bill that has passed committee in both the House and the Senate! But we still need your help, especially as Congress gets ready to go on recess from March 15-30. This is a great time for all to go out and do in district lobby visits to make sure that when the bill hits the Senate and House floor for a vote after March 30th that your Congressional Member will vote in favor of this awesome bill! Please get out there and help us pass this bill-we’re almost there!

To learn more about in district lobby visits check out http://www.ucgh.org/resources/toolkit-center/ucgh-action-guide/contacting-politicians/

The only amendment offered today in the Senate mark up was a managers’ amendment. Though most of the provisions relate to the HIV/AIDS section of the bill there is one provision related to malaria (see #9).

The provisions of the managers’ amendment are as follows:

1. Technical amendments to Section 101(f) on Inspectors General (Biden)

2. Alter conscience clause on page 90 to conform to the House bill (Biden/Lugar)

3. Changing “healthcare workers and professionals” to “healthcare paraprofessionals and professionals” in Section 301, changing goal to target, and adding definition of paraprofessionals; elimination of “behavior change” phrase in several places in the bill to conform with House compromise; adjustments to pediatric treatment provisions (Biden)

4. Global Fund — retain current law on timing of measuring Fund contributions for purposes of U.S. limitation of 33 percent (DeMint)

5. Define “structural prevention” (Biden)

6. Create panel on reviewing PMTCT (Dodd)

7. Promote vaccine development (Kerry)

8. Promote microbicide development (Obama)

9. Malaria/ensure CDC surveillance doesn’t duplicate WHO (DeMint)

10. Highlight Caribbean as potential partner for regional approaches to AIDS (Nelson)

11. Sense of the Senate, adding new section 401(b) on the scale-up of the spending over the course of the five fiscal years (Biden/Lugar)

12. Promote pre-service training for health capacity (Cardin)

13. Technical change to insert section 307 (missing by mistake from original bill), and renumbering rest of Title III accordingly (Biden/Lugar)

To learn more about the U.S. Global AIDS Plan visit www.pepfar2.org

Student Training Calls: March 13th at 9pm (EST) & March 14th at 12pm (EST)
Call in Number 1-888-296-6500 Code: 130039
Learn more about the week of action toolkit and speak directly with the UCGH national coordinators!

Check out the Week of Action and download the toolkit online

Global Health Week of Action 2008
The Many Sides of the Right to Health

WHAT: The member organizations of the University Coalitions for Global Health (UCGH) have come together again in the spirit of partnership to hold the 1st even Global Health Week of Action where we hope to bring together med, grad and undergrad students to advocate for the right to health for populations that are under served or where it is outright ignored by the governments responsible for their welfare. We will bring attention to the right to health by focusing on the following issues:
• Access to Clean Water
• Women and AIDS
• HIV and Malaria
• Access to Medicines and the Role of Universities
• Global Health Care Worker Shortage

Check out the Week of Action and download the toolkit online

This year’s activities include:
• Implementation of an Issue=specific toolkit created by the national coordinators of UCGH
• Online chats with Global Health Experts
• Student planning and advocacy training conference calls

WHEN: March 22nd-March 30th 2008 On your Campus!
Student Training Calls: March 13th at 9pm (EST) & March 14th at 12pm (EST)
Call in Number 1-888-296-6500 Code: 130039
Learn more about the week of action toolkit and speak directly with the UCGH national coordinators!

Contact: your national coordinator or sdevita@globalhealth.org to find out more!!!

Check out the Week of Action and download the toolkit online

ACTION ALERT:

PLEASE CALL THE SENATE AND SEEK SUPPORT FOR $50 BILLION AIDS, TB AND MALARIA IN THE NEW U.S. GLOBAL AIDS BILL!

Why we need at least $50 billion in the next Global AIDS Plan:
• Continuing the current growth trajectory based on yearly increases provided by Congress would lead to approximately $50 billion over this period. Thus, this $50 billion simply continues our current leadership.
• $9 billion to protect and retain authorized funding for U.S. TB and malaria programs.

“Hi, my name is _______ and I’m from _(state &school)_. I’m calling to encourage Senator ___(see list below)____to support a U.S. Global AIDS bill that will reauthorize programs at $50 billion over five years for AIDS, TB and malaria. $50 billion would continue US leadership for AIDS and it will ensure the protection and retention of authorized funding for TB and malaria at $9 billion. Please urge Senator_______ to support a full $50billion for global AIDS, TB and malaria.”
Call these Senators:

Sen. Joseph Biden (DE-Democratic Chair) 202-224-5042
Sen. Barbara Boxer (CA) 202-224-3553
Sen. Benjamin Cardin (MD) 202-224-4524
Sen. Robert Casey (PA) 202-224-6324
Sen. Christopher Dodd (CT) 202-224-2823
Sen. Russell Feingold (WI) 202-224-5323
Sen. John Kerry (MA) 202-224-2742
Sen. Robert Menendez (NJ) 202-224-4744
Sen. Bill Nelson (FL) 202-224-5274
Sen. Barack Obama (IL) 202-224-2854
Sen. James Webb (VA) 202-224-4024

A greatly improved and expanded version of PEPFAR has been introduced in Congress, The Global HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008. This bill will be voted on TOMORROW by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and we need your immediate help to pass the best bill possible, which should include reauthorization for $50 billion over the next 5 years.

Why $9 billion for Malaria and TB?
• People who suffer malaria and TB infections are at greater risk of HIV infection. Leaving malaria and TB unchecked only fuels the HIV/AIDS crisis.
• We have proven and affordable interventions to prevent and treat malaria and successful treatments for TB that are cost-efficient uses of U.S. taxpayers dollars.
• Funding would allow these programs to scale up and would support much needed research, including operations research and vaccine development

This past Tuesday, nearly 200,000 student activists took action for Youth AIDS Day 2008. During the UCGH national call in day students from across the country urged members of the House and Senator Lugar to reauthorize and reform the policies in the next iteration of the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Together we called on Congress to increase funding levels to $50 billion over the next 5 years, support the training and retention of 140,000 new health care professionals, remove the 1/3 abstinence until marriage earmark prevention funding earmark…and I have to say you were VERY successful!

As students were jamming Capitol Hill phone lines with hundreds of calls and clogging up email inboxes with PEPFAR demands, activists in D.C. were ramping for “mark up” in the House Committee on Foreign Affairs (HCFA) and together we were able to get an excellent PEFPAR 2 bill passed through committee.

So I want to say a special thank you to all of those who took action for Youth AIDS Day. We generated over 1,206 emails from 346 Congressional Districts and made hundreds of calls to Senator Lugar’s office (who’s staff actually called one of the supporting organizations to ask why the students kept calling!-great work everyone!)

For those of you who maybe interested on Thursday, February 28 at 8pm ET and Friday, February 29 at 2pm ET, there will be a conference call to update student advocates on the current PEPFAR legislation and discuss what steps to take next. Please join us to learn how you can continue to take action to make sure this important piece of legislation passes. At the start time, call in to 800-505-4464 and type the passcode 951678# to join the call.

ps…check out PHR’s awesome blog write up about Youth AIDS Day

Hey UCGH-The House FINALLY sent PEPFAR II to mark up. The bipartisan bill passed committee with a supportive voice vote and will now move onto the floor.

However, the bill that was passed today was a “compromised bill”, which essentially means that the democrats opened dialogue with the republicans the night before markup and created a bipartisan bill that all sides could support. The compromise text includes more than 95% of the language contained in the Democratic draft of the 5-year reauthorization legislation. However, this new legislation has the support of Foreign Affairs Acting Chairman Howard Berman, Ranking Republican Member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and the White House. The legislation contains groundbreaking provisions which move the Global HIV/AIDS program beyond the “emergency” phase of implementation to “sustainability”, dramatically boost HIV/AIDS programming related to women and girls, strengthen health systems in countries hard-hit by the HIV virus, authorize HIV/AIDS programs to include linkages to food and nutrition, education and health care programs, and increase U.S. contributions to the Global Fund.

Cool things in the bill:
• Reauthorization level of $50 Billion over the next 5 years for Global HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria initiatives.
• Training and retention of 140,000 new health care professionals and workers.
• Removal of the 1/3 abstinence until marriage funding earmark that applies to global HIV/AIDS prevention funding. Instead, the Administration will be directed to promote a “balanced” prevention program in target countries, including all elements of the Abstinence, Faithfulness, and Condoms (ABC) approach towards HIV prevention. The Administration will also be required to report to Congress if behavioral change programs, such as abstinence and fidelity, do not receive 50% of the funds devoted to the prevention of sexual transmission of HIV in countries in which there is a generalized HIV epidemic (currently, 33% of all HIV prevention funds in all countries – a much larger pot of funds – must be spent on abstinence). The 50% figure triggers a report, and is not an earmark governing the expenditure of funds.

Not so cool things in the bill:
• The compromise text returns to existing law related to the so-called “prostitution pledge”.
• The bipartisan bill contains new benchmarks for U.S. contributions to the Global Fund, but does not contain a funding penalty if the benchmarks are unmet.

Overall, this is a good bill that is working to take PEPFAR in a more comprehensive and evidence based direction. Thank you to all of you who helped support this effort!

Now a word from our friend Kaytee Riek at HealthGAP

BIPARTISAN GLOBAL AIDS BILL HAS SUPPORT OF BOTH PARTIES, BUT ONLY DOES HALF OF WHAT IS NEEDED IN FIGHT AGAINST GLOBAL AIDS PANDEMIC:
³As with all Compromises, we have to give up some of the things we needed²
- Committee Chair Berman

Contact: Kaytee Riek (267) 334-6984

February 27, 2008
For Immediate Release

Washington, DC: The House Committee on Foreign Affairs announced a bipartisan compromise bill to reauthorize the President¹s Emergency Plan to Fight AIDS (PEPFAR). This compromise bill will replace the one that the late, great Congressmember Tom Lantos originally proposed. The compromise, struck by Committee Chair Berman, Ranking Member Ross-Lehtinen and the White House, is a good starting place to ensure that the United States can do it¹s fair share to fight global AIDS, but as Committee Chair Berman says, ³compromises mean that we don¹t get all of what we want² and in this case, all of what is needed.

³We are excited that this bill has the support of both parties and of the administration and that the President has agreed to fund the bill at the minimum of $50 billion. However, we need to learn from the past five years.
The current bill needs to include the target number of providing treatment for 4 million people who are going to die without immediate treatment² said Kaytee Riek from Health GAP. As it is written, the bill proposes to ensure that only 3 million people are treated, which is one million less than the number who would be treated by the United States¹ commitment to providing AIDS treatment to 1/3 of those in critical need.

³The US should do our fair share to train sufficient health workers to keep our promise to Africa. In order to do this, we need to train and retain an additional 140,000 new health professionals,² said Health GAP¹s Jennifer Flynn, referring to the UNAIDS estimate of the number of health professionals required to achieve universal access to HIV treatment in Africa. ³Without this language, we are in danger of draining existing already overburdened health systems.²

Representative Payne emphasized the importance of passing this bill in time for the G8 meeting so that the United States can use our pledge to ensure that other developed nations contribute their fair share to the global AIDS fight.

Representative Chris Smith from New Jersey highlighted that the bill still includes what is commonly referred to as the ³Prostitution Pledge², the practice of requiring community based organizations to sign a form that they will not support prostitution. Experts have argued that this requirement means that local groups have to choose between providing treatment, services and support to individuals who engage in sex work in order to survive and ignoring those at higher risk for HIV infection. Representative Ackerman from New York responded that saving the lives of women who engage in survival sex is in the best interest of public health.

The full House is expected to vote on the bill in the next two weeks.

Hey UCGHers!

Today is Youth AIDS Day, and people and groups around the country need you to take five minutes to help pass legislation that will save millions of lives worldwide. In the next few weeks, Congress will consider reauthorization of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, President Bush’s 2003 proposal to treat 2 million people with AIDS and prevent 7 million HIV infections by the end of 2008. This plan expires at the end of this year, and must be continued.

There are two things you can do today to make sure this PEPFAR legislation passes:

First, email your Members of Congress and ask them to support reauthorization of the US Global AIDS Initiative (PEPFAR)?

Second, please call Senator Lugar (202) 224-4814, the Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who is drafting the Senate bill at this time, and ask him to support a bill modeled on the one that is being considered by the House?

Click here to send an email to your Member of Congress. Then, call Senator Lugar at (202) 224-4814. Here’s a sample script, but you should feel free to modify it:
“Hi, my name is _______ and I’m from ___(organization)___. Today is Youth AIDS Day, and I’m calling to encourage Senator Lugar to work with Senator Biden to craft a bill to reauthorize the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. President Bush began this program in 2003, and it has been an immense success and must continue. But we need to make sure that we do the most good possible, and I hope Senator Lugar can support a bill that continues the progress President Bush started - the bill should include $50 billion over five years in funding, an end to the abstinence-only funding earmark, treatment for four million people, and train 140,000 new healthcare workers to address the key bottleneck to treating the people we’ve promised to treat in Africa.”
The PEPFAR reauthorization bill currently in the House includes $50 billion over five years, which is sufficient funding to treat one-third of people in need of treatment worldwide, begin to address the dire shortage of healthcare workers, treat and prevent TB and malaria, the leading killers of people with AIDS, and prevent HIV with evidence-based programs.

Your Member of Congress and Senator Lugar (202) 224-4814 need to hear from you that this bill must pass in order to save the most number of lives.

Around the country, hundreds of thousands of people are waking up and seeing this email in their inbox. Each person is given an opportunity to take action; to do something to make sure that every person living with HIV has access to treatment to save their lives, and every person at risk for HIV infection has the tools needed to prevent infection. But of these hundreds of thousands of people, how many will take action? Knowledge is only power when you use that knowledge to win changes in the lives of people around the world. Will you be one of the people who take action?

Can we count on you to email your Member of Congress and call Senator Lugar (202) 224-4814 today to ensure that the US Global AIDS Plan is reauthorized, with the best possible language so that we do the most good around the world?

Thank you for your hard work,

ActionAid USA
Advocates for Youth
American Medical Student Association
Americans for Informed Democracy
Global AIDS Alliance
Health GAP
Physicians for Human Rights
RESULTS
Student Global AIDS Campaign
University Coalitions for Global Health

PS- The House Committee on Foreign Affairs votes on PEPFAR reauthorization on Wednesday, Feb. 27th. On Thursday, Feb. 28th at 8pm ET and again on Friday, Feb. 29th at 2pm ET, we will be hosting a conference call to update everyone on the status of the bill, and what steps to take next. Please join us to learn how you can continue to take action to make sure this important piece of legislation passes. At the start time, call in to 800-505-4464 and type the passcode 951678# to join the call.
PPS- To learn more about this bill and all the good provisions that are included, click here.

An update on PEPFAR from Hayley over at the Student Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC). ~Stephanie

Hi UCGHers!

As you know, it’s crunch time on the PEPFAR reauthorization, which means lots of work at the mercy of the political process. We now know that, after another delay, the PEPFAR vote in the House Committee on Foreign Affairs should be the week of February 25th. Unfortunately, we’ve also heard that certain House members are prepared to fight the critical improvements in the bill!

We’re worried about burning you all out; we’re feeling a little overloaded ourselves, but it’s PEPFAR or bust! And we’ve already made a big difference.

Please take the extra time to organize a call-in day next week - we’ll be reminding members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the improvements are too important to lose! We’ll send out an updated call-in script and list of targets at the beginning of next week.

If you have any questions about the saga that is PEPFAR reauthorization, let us know!

Many thanks,
Hayley & the SGAC Steering Committee