Target known killers
The Bush Administration needs momentarily to turn its attention away from seeking millions of dollars more to search for possible weapons of mass destruction and target very real, known killers. Infectious diseases every year unnecessarily snuff out 6 million lives, according to Results, an anti-poverty lobbying organization. If malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS were running rampant in the United States, or if the diseases were something frighteningly new such as SARS, we might pay more attention. But malaria and tuberculosis have all but been conquered here so we tend to ignore the suffering of millions. Yet, as SARS demonstrated, new viruses or old viruses that have mutated into something more exotic can quickly spread around the globe.
The United States has a responsibility to help prevent the spread of deadly illnesses. And, there is a cure or at least a treatment. U.S. Sen. Richard Durban, an Illinois Democrat, wants to amend the emergency supplemental appropriations bill to combat AIDS and other infectious diseases to the $3 billion level that Congress authorized last year.
This would include $1 billion to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Current funding in Senate spending bills is at $2 billion, with just $400 million targeted for the Global Fund. That’s $200,000 less than the president wants in the same bill to search for weapons of mass destruction.
We’re not saying biological and chemical weapons aren’t capable of killing thousands, but these diseases are already wiping out entire villages of people. The Global Fund seeks to control the spread.
Results reviewed the Global Fund’s record and found that $1 billion could provide treatment for more than a million people sick with tuberculosis, help tens of millions of malaria patients and provide medication for more than a quarter million people with AIDS.
With that kind of track record, the global organization deserves the full support of Washington, and Durban’s amendment is an excellent first move in that direction