In his joint address to Congress, the president congratulated himself on his impoundment of foreign aid funds. He cheered at the loss of aid to Lesotho and called the South African country “a place nobody has ever heard of.” But that money was not being spent on ideological warfare or waste. It was spent on medicine. Lesotho has the second highest burden of HIV and tuberculosis, the world’s deadliest infectious diseases. There may have been some disadvantageous programs, but is the appropriate response to allow infants to die of HIV without treatment while infectious disease runs rampant across the globe?
Cuts to global health might promise to make Americans prosperous and healthy, but those cuts actually increase the burden of disease, weaken our trade partners and allow our adversaries to claim the diplomatic power we lose when we allow innocent people to suffer and die.
Right now, members of Congress are quietly affirming their support for global health — a historically nonpartisan issue — as they plan the budget. This month, legislators made record numbers of signatures on letters aimed at restoring global health funding. There is work to do, but there is yet hope in the fight for a healthier world.
Caroline Collett
Springville