Leading medical, scientific, and public health leaders from around the world sent a letter to President Obama on Nov. 18, urging him to maintain robust scale up of AIDS services as part of his Global Health Initiative.

The letter comes as the Administration hones a new approach to global health. Top government officials are putting the finishing touches on a new global AIDS strategy, to be released on Dec. 1—World AIDS Day. Right now, signals from the White House indicate lukewarm support for the US global AIDS program. Dr. Eric Goosby, Obama’s global AIDS coordinator, recently said the Administration may flat-fund PEPFAR for at least the next two years, possibly longer

As the signers of this letter argue, we cannot effectively address other health threats by pitting AIDS funding against other health needs, as some in Washington seem to be advocating. HIV/AIDS is the No. 1 cause of death among women aged 15-44, the virus remains a leading cause of maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa.  Instead, AIDS programs can be used as a foundation on which to build broader and more sustainable healthcare capacity in low- and middle-income countries and deliver maternal and child health, primary health care and other needed health services.

Click here to read the letter to President Obama [PDF]