Pandemic: Congress must approve global aid

A global pandemic requires a global response. Ninety six percent of American voters believe the U.S. ought to help with the global response to the COVID-19 emergency. However, Congress has yet to include anything for global health in its emergency funding.

Even before the pandemic, almost 15,000 children under age 5 and 800 pregnant or parenting women died each day from preventable causes. Over 1 million people die annually from tuberculosis, the most infectious killer in the world.

Much of the global health infrastructure has pivoted to address the pandemic. So those numbers are sure to rise as our efforts to address maternal child health and tuberculosis and nutrition are redirected.

The U.S. Senate must step up and fund global health in its next round of pandemic funding to correct the House’s omission of global health from its bill.

Please contact Senators Murray and Cantwell to speak on behalf of the children and women worldwide whose lives are more at risk than ever.

This story was originally published May 28, 2020 at 1:56 PM with the headline "Pandemic: Congress must approve global aid."