US Health Aid Beyond PEPFAR
The Mother & Child Campaign
- Colleen C. Denny, BS;
- Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD
- Author Affiliations: Department of Bioethics, the Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
- KEYWORDS:
- CHILDREN'S HEALTH
- DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
- DIARRHEA
- HIV INFECTIONS
- INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
- MALARIA
- MOTHERS
- PNEUMONIA
- TUBERCULOSIS
- UNITED STATES
- WORLD HEALTH
One of the George W. Bush administration's biggest successes has been the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).1 Even the president's critics acknowledge the important benefits PEPFAR has produced, both for those countries most seriously affected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/AIDS and for the United States' moral legitimacy and diplomatic reputation. It was accordingly unsurprising that the president used his final State of the Union address to call for a doubling of PEPFAR's funds. Congress recently went even further, appropriating nearly $50 billion for the program's renewal.1
Yet doubling or tripling PEPFAR's funding is not the best use of international health funding. In focusing so heavily on HIV/AIDS treatments, the United States misses huge opportunities. By extending funds to simple but more deadly diseases, such as respiratory and diarrheal illnesses, the US government could save more lives—especially young lives—at substantially lower cost. Rather than inflating PEPFAR funding, …
