ACTION: Urge the Bush administration and Congress to include $700 million for the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria in the emergency supplemental spending bill expected to be introduced by the Bush administration on March 18th. (This effort helps lay the groundwork for getting $2.5 billion in the budget resolution for next year FY 2003.)

NATIONAL CALL-IN DAYS: March 13th and 14th

Contact the White House: Phone (202) 456-1111; Fax: (202) 456-2461; Email: president@whitehouse.gov

Contact the Chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees: HOUSE--Rep. Young (202) 225-5961; SENATE-Senator Byrd (202) 224-3954 In addition to the White House, these members have the ultimate say in what is included in the emergency spending bill.

If you have time, please also contact your legislator at the Capitol Hill switchboard: (202) 224-3121. Note: See www.house.gov and www.senate.gov for fax, direct phone and email addresses for members.

When you call the members' offices leave a message with the receptionist for the legislative assistant who handles global AIDS issues or leave a voicemail for the legislative assistant. If you actually speak to the legislative assistant, say where you are calling from and explain that you are asking Rep. ________ to support $700 million for global AIDS within the upcoming supplemental spending bill. Be brief. Use the facts below to help make your points.

Not sure who your representative is? Check www.house.gov/writerep/ to find them with your zip code.

Addresses for letters:

Mail delivery at the Capitol is still delayed due to last year's anthrax incidents. Please send a letter or postcard to the local office of your Representative and of your Senators instead. You will find the address online at the websites above, or call your public library.

STAY TUNED: Members from both the House (Barbara Lee, D-CA) and Senate (in process) are expected to initiate letters to the White House calling for $700 million for global AIDS programs to be included in the emergency spending bill. You can help by urging your House and Senate members to sign on to these letters when they are released. We will notify you as soon as we have more information.

ISSUE: On or around March 18th, the Bush administration is expected to designate certain programs as emergencies-such as the war on terrorism-and submit a fiscal year 2002 emergency supplemental to Congress. An emergency supplemental provides funding immediately and is separate from the regular budget process.

When Congress passed the FY 2002 budget last November, they failed to include enough money for global AIDS programs. Advocates called for at least $1 billion to be provided to the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria.

Over 95 members of the House and Senate signed onto letters to President Bush asking $1 billion in emergency appropriation but only $300 million was actually allocated.

Now we can close the gap in FY 2002 global AIDS funding. At least $700 million for the Global HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria Fund should be included in the supplemental emergency spending bill. This would bring the US government's contribution to $1 billion for FY 2002.

BACKGROUND: An estimated $10 billion is needed to respond to the crisis annually but only $2.2 billion has been made available from all government sources for global AIDS this year. The Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB, and malaria (The Global Fund) is an independent funding mechanism to channel resources to programs focused on prevention, care, support, and treatment including on the well-being of orphans and on programs that deliver desparately needed AIDS drugs to people living with HIV/AIDS. For more information, see: www.globalfundatm.org.

The Fund is intended to compliment existing programs, not recreate the wheel. Soon, however, the Fund is expected to be bankrupt unless donor governments are willing to invest their fair share in stopping global AIDS. Although the US enjoys approximately 25-30% of global wealth, its contribution of only $300 million to the Fund makes it the least generous donor of all the worlds' richest governments. Now is a critical time for the US to invest significantly in the Global Fund, because doing so will encourage major contributions by other donor countries, thus increasing the Fund 's impact.

To date, over 20 million people have died of AIDS worldwide. Some 40 million people are living with HIV/AIDS today-most in the developing world where resources to respond and health infrastructure are limited. Today, like every other day, some 13,000 people will become newly infected and more than 8,000 people will perish due to AIDS. This crisis is unfolding with the full knowledge of the international community. Business as usual will not halt this disease. The global AIDS pandemic requires a massive scaling up of international financial resources so that proven programs can be implemented and expanded. The United States must lead this global partnership by investing at least an additional $700 million (for a total of $1 billion this year) toward the Global Fund in the 2002 emergency spending bill.