AIDS activists 'carol' at Sec. Clinton's home

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AIDS Activists go "caroling" at Sec. Clinton's Chappaqua home

The US Global AIDS Plan

PRESS RELEASE – TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22ND, 2009

EMBARGOED UNTIL 5PM TUESDAY, DEC. 22ND

Contact: Jennifer Flynn, Health GAP – 917-517-5202 (off-site)

Diana Scholl, Housing Works – 917-402-2576 (on-site)

Antonio Davis, ACT UP Philadelphia – 215-715-8653 (on-site)

SEC. CLINTON BROKE HER GLOBAL AIDS FUNDING PROMISE, CAUSING MILLIONS TO WAIT IN LINE FOR AIDS DRUGS; ACTIVISTS TO SING CHRISTMAS CAROLS AND HOLD A VIGIL AT HER HOME

“Oh, Secretary Clinton, you know millions just might die, cuz you broke your word, on the goal we heard, yes, you hardly even tried"

CHAPPAQUA, NY – AIDS activists dressed in santa hats gathered at Secretary Clinton’s home to sing modified Christmas Carols and hold a candlelight vigil. They were calling attention to her broken global AIDS funding promises.

“AIDS is the number one cause of death for women of reproductive age worldwide. As candidates for President, both Secretary of State Clinton and President Obama committed to address this by agreeing to increase funding for global AIDS to $50 billion over five years,” said Kaytee Riek, Director of Organizing for Health GAP. In 2008, Congress, including Clinton and Obama, reauthorized the US global AIDS plan and pledged $48 billion over five years to fight global AIDS. But in the first budget presented to Congress, the Obama Administration did not ask for any substantive increase in funding for global AIDS programs. “We’re hearing that global AIDS may be flat-funded for the 2011 budget, too, and that would have catastrophic effects on access to AIDS treatment worldwide,” continued Riek. The Obama Administration is currently pulling together the 2011 budget.

As a result or this chronic underfunding, humanitarian groups including Doctors Without Borders have documented accounts of people in developing countries who had been promised access to AIDS treatment and have now been told to wait. “These same people often have nowhere else to turn, and may die as a result of Clinton and Obama’s broken AIDS promises,” said Eric Bartley of Housing Works. “Additionally, prevention programs desperately need to scale up to address growing HIV infection rates. And plans to train and retain thousands of critically needed health professionals have been put on hold. This is unacceptable.”

“Secretary Clinton has been a champion of global AIDS efforts, but she is letting us down by not pushing for increased funding for global AIDS,” said Antonio Davis of ACT UP Philadelphia. “In 2011, the US should be providing $9.25 billion for global AIDS. We’re going to Sec. Clinton’s house and caroling to tell her, lyrically, that she needs to keep her promise to increase funding. Millions of people worldwide are depending on her to keep her promise.”

ACT UP Philadelphia, Health GAP, Housing Works, and the NYC AIDS Housing Network sponsored the caroling and vigil.

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