“PEPFAR: One of our best ambassadors”
published in Tulsa World, Friday, May 16, 2008
PEPFAR: One of our best ambassadors
by: JENNIFER DELANEY
5/16/2008 12:00 AM
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.
