Dear Global Health Leaders, Organisations, and Concerned Citizens,

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We invite you to join us in taking a stand for global health security. Our community is facing an unprecedented crisis that demands immediate, unified action. The recent freeze on U.S. federal funding for foreign aid and nongovernmental organizations threatens to unravel decades of vital progress in disease prevention, surveillance, and control worldwide. As U.S. contributions historically represent 40% of global health assistance, this decision not only puts millions of lives at risk but also severely compromises our collective ability to prevent and respond to future pandemics.

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Your voice is crucial at this moment. By signing this call to action, you join a growing coalition of healthcare professionals, research institutions, humanitarian organizations, and advocates working to protect essential global health infrastructure. Together, we can demonstrate the far-reaching implications of this decision and mobilise support for the immediate restoration of this critical funding.

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Our Call to Action

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The United States has historically been the cornerstone of global health security, contributing approximately $11 billion annually to international health programs. This includes critical initiatives such as PEPFAR, which has saved over 25 million lives through HIV prevention and treatment, and the President's Malaria Initiative, which has helped reduce malaria deaths by 50% in participating countries.

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The immediate impact of this funding freeze is already evident and threatens both global health and U.S. national security:

• Essential disease surveillance systems in over 60 countries face imminent shutdown

• Critical vaccination programs reaching 50 million children annually are at risk

• Thousands of healthcare workers supported by U.S. funding may lose their positions

• Early warning systems for emerging pathogens face severe disruption

• Many civil society organisations have already been forced to suspend their vital healthcare operations

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Infectious diseases know no borders - disrupting our ability to detect and respond to outbreaks overseas inevitably increases the risk of disease spread globally, including to American soil. The stability of global health infrastructure directly impacts our collective ability to prevent, detect, and respond to future health threats.

 

We urgently call upon:

• The Executive Branch to immediately reinstate foreign aid funding for global health programs

• Congress to pass legislation protecting long-term funding for global health security initiatives

• The Judiciary to expedite review of any legal challenges to this funding freeze

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As leaders in global health, we must act swiftly to prevent the unraveling of decades of progress. The American budget has been crucial to global work on infectious disease and overall global healthcare. This is not just about foreign aid – it's about maintaining the robust global health infrastructure that protects all of us. Together, we must ensure that our capacity to fight infectious diseases remains strong and coordinated across borders.