Vanderbilt and Global Health
The Global Fund Gets Vanderbilt Students Involved in Fighting AIDS, Tuberculosis
Meredith Sellers
Issue date: 10/26/05 Section: features
Versus Magazine Online [Image based format]
College students have played an important role as activists, and their efforts in many different campaigns have often been met with success. With an important congressional vote on funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria coming up in December, Vanderbilt students have a unique opportunity to become involved in a worldwide movement to halt the AIDS pandemic and to improve public health in poor countries.
After years of advocacy and lobbying, the Global Fund was created in 2002 to organize international financing for prevention, treatment, and education in 128 countries. The Fund distributes grants to programs that present efficient, practical plans to battle the diseases, and additional monies are only allotted if the program can prove the effectiveness of its projects.
The governments of the United States and of other industrialized countries provide the bulk of the financial support for the grants issued by the Global Fund. Millions of dollars from each supporting country are needed annually to sustain the work of the Global Fund, and this year, additional funding is necessary to initiate new projects.
The sum asked of the United States this year is $840 million, with $600 million going toward the maintenance of current projects and $240 million toward the issuing of new grants. Congress will decide how much money they will give to the Global Fund in December, when they will vote on an omnibus appropriations bill and several emergency spending bills for war costs, hurricane devastation, and other issues. The vote on appropriations for the Global Fund was originally scheduled for late September; however, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, it was pushed back and bundled with other spending bills.
Because of Tennessee Senator Bill Frist's role as Senate Majority Leader, Vanderbilt students are in a position to influence the outcome of the vote, according to Paul Davis, a lobbyist with Health GAP (Global Access Project). Davis was involved in the creation the Global Fund and has also lobbied successfully to secure lower costs for antiretroviral medications in low-income countries ravaged by AIDS.