The following is a summary of opinion pieces published ahead of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’s replenishment conference scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C., on December 3.

• Phyllis AlRoy, Times of Trenton: “The choice is clear: invest in efforts to end these pandemics or allow them to fester and kill for decades to come,” AlRoy, a RESULTS volunteer, writes. “Because every $1 the U.S. gives to the fund has been historically matched by $2 from other donor nations, a $5 billion U.S. pledge could lead to the global replenishment goal of $15 billion,” she writes, concluding, “Continued U.S. leadership will set the stage for the defeat of AIDS, TB and malaria” (11/25).
• Deborah Derrick, Huffington Post’s “Global Motherhood” blog: “The United States’ and others’ investments in the Global Fund and bilateral programs have led the way to stunning results in the past decade,” Derrick, president of the Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, writes. “We are at a unique moment in history when scientific advances, greater knowledge of how to target the diseases, and better implementation strategies mean that controlling HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria is within our reach,” she states, adding, “Now is the time to come together as a global community to rev up support and ensure long-term, sustainable solutions in the fight against these deadly, yet treatable, diseases” (11/22).
• DeVon Hale, Salt Lake Tribune: “Since people with HIV are able to live longer, healthier lives, HIV/AIDS doesn’t seem as threatening as in the past, making it easy for people and governments to decrease their monetary support of programs supplying medication to those infected,” Hale, assistant dean for international medical education at the University of Utah School of Medicine, writes. However, “[t]o support an accelerated attack on [the global AIDS, TB and malaria] pandemics requires $15 billion over three years,” he notes, adding, “[As] Mark Dybul, President George W. Bush’s global AIDS coordinator and now executive director of the Global Fund, said, ‘We have a choice: we can invest now, or pay forever'” (11/23).
• Ashley Harvin and Braveen Ragunanthan, Richmond Times-Dispatch: “With a combination of recent advances in science, massive scale-up of services, and improved epidemiological tools, control of [HIV, TB, and malaria] is now within reach,” Harvin and Ragunanthan, both medical students at Virginia Commonwealth University, write. “The battle against these diseases is no longer in the laboratory; instead the challenge now lies in effective resource allocation,” they note, adding, “We as citizens can contribute to this unique effort by encouraging U.S. leaders to make a bold pledge of $5 billion over the next three years when the U.S. convenes the Global Fund replenishment conference” in December. They state, “Cutting these investments will not dent our national debt, but it will result in the deaths of millions of people” (11/25).