COVID Stinginess Will Bite the U.S. Down the Road, says AHF

With the COVID-19 pandemic still far from over and nearly 20 lower-income countries struggling to vaccinate even 10% of their populations, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) urges the Biden Administration and Congress to allocate adequate funding to ensure the United States can continue leading the global pandemic response.

According to Politico, sources familiar with preparations for the upcoming White House Global COVID-19 Summit on May 12 report that “the U.S. isn’t currently prepared to bring significant new money to fight the virus worldwide.” This news comes after U.S. Congress failed to approve $5 billion last month in additional funding for pandemic response efforts worldwide.

“Strong leadership has been lacking throughout much of this pandemic – which is why the U.S. must continue leading the global COVID response. Anything less will lead to waning commitments from other countries, and sadly, cause more preventable deaths,” said AHF President Michael Weinstein. “Now is not the time to be stingy. The U.S. said it was committed to getting vaccines to lower-income countries – lawmakers and the Biden Administration must see it through.”

While more than 11.6 billion vaccine doses have been administered globally, less than 16% of people in low-income countries have gotten even one dose. According to a March 2022 United Nations report, 2.8 billion people worldwide were still waiting to get their first shot.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over 1.6 million clients in 45 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare and Instagram: @aidshealthcare

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