PRESS RELEASE - Sept. 22, 2009
Contacts: Max Ray, ACT UP Philadelphia – 215-908-8939 (off-site)
Jennifer Flynn, Health GAP – 917-517-5202 (on-site)
AIDS ACTIVISTS HOLD FUNERAL FOR THOUSANDS WHO WILL DIE BECAUSE OF G-20 NATION’S
BROKEN PROMISES
EVENT DETAILS: Meet at 2pm at Grant and Liberty in Downtown Pittsburgh,
procession will go under the Lawrence Convention Center (where the G-20 will be
held), and return by 3pm to Grant & Liberty.
PITTSBURGH – The day before the G-20 begins in Pittsburgh, more than one
hundred AIDS activists, dressed in black and marching behind coffins and
funeral wreaths, will hold a funeral procession for the thousands of people
with AIDS who will die as a result of the broken promises made by the
wealthiest nations regarding global health funding. Activists say that the G-20
nations are using the financial crisis as an excuse to cut promised funding for
global AIDS programs. Already, African countries are facing stock-outs of key
drugs, and some clinics are taking people off of HIV treatment altogether, or
ending new enrollment in treatment programs, as a result of decreased funding
from wealthy countries to fight AIDS.
“Since 2003, the world has made significant progress in fighting AIDS, but that
progress is threatened by the failure of rich countries to come through on
promises of increased funding. As a result, millions of people will die,” said
Rev. Jeffrey Jordan of ACT UP Philadelphia and Metropolitan Community Church of
Philadelphia, who addressed the funeral participants.
70% of people worldwide lack access to HIV treatment, a dramatic improvement
from a decade ago, when only 1% of people with HIV could access lifesaving
anti-retroviral treatment. But activists have said this progress was not good
enough. “President Obama, Prime Minister Brown, President Sarkozy and the rest
of the G-20 leaders committed to achieving universal access to HIV treatment.
But with no new resources for HIV medication, and in some cases funding cuts,
that promise will never be kept,” said Mongezi Nkomo of Azania Heritage
International.
The activists specifically highlighted the US$5 billion funding shortfall that
the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria is facing. The Global Fund has
to date distributed over US$15.6 billion to programs in 140 countries, and is
providing AIDS drugs to 2.3 million people, TB treatment to 5.4 million people,
and distributed 88 million bednets to prevent malaria. But as a result of
increased size lack of quality of grant proposals, and decreased or stagnant
contributions from wealthy countries, the Global Fund has had to scale back
plans to provide sustainable, ongoing funding for the best performing grants.
Additionally, no new rounds of funding have been launched.
“The apathy of rich countries towards people dying of HIV, TB, and malaria is
unconscionable. The health of people across the world is intrinsically tied
with the health of the global economy. Therefore, it is truly unbelievable that
the G-20 nations are not taking this time at the Summit to discuss increasing
their contributions in order avert the potential collapse of the Global Fund,”
said Bekezela Mguni, Community Organizer with New Voices Pittsburgh: Women of
Color for Reproductive Justice.
In particular, activists called out US President Barack Obama, who promised on
the campaign trail to provide $50 billion over five years to global AIDS
efforts. “Obama’s 2010 budget did not increase funding for the Global Fund by a
single penny and only marginally increased funding for bilateral programs. We
are disappointed in President Obama who we had hoped would keep his promise to
provide sufficient resources to fight AIDS,” said Jose de Marco of Health GAP
and Proyecto Sol. “If the US government increased its funding for global AIDS
by $9 billion, which is 1% of the amount that has gone to bail out banks, we
could save millions of lives.”
The funeral procession was sponsored by ACT UP Philadelphia, Azania Heritage
International, Black Radical Congress of Pittsburgh, Health GAP, Housing Works,
New Voices Pittsburgh: Women of Color for Reproductive Justice, NYC AIDS
Housing Network (NYCAHN), Proyecto Sol Filadelphia and Roots of Promise (a
Thomas Merton Center project).
###
Mongezi Sefika wa Nkomo
AANSWER
49 Haven Hills
Amalinda 5247
eMzantsi-South Africa
1-267-265-4128
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