Former AIDS Czar Sandra Thurman Signs UNAIDS Agreement for International AIDS Trust to Coordinate Campaign to Increase U.S. Global AIDS Spending to $2B
Sandra Thurman, former head of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, on behalf of the International AIDS Trust, of which she is president and CEO, has signed an agreement with UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot to assist in the coordination of a fundraising campaign that aims to boost the United States' spending on global AIDS to $2 billion annually, USA Today reports (USA Today, 5/9). IAT will act as UNAIDS' "coordinating partner" in the United States in a "multifaceted campaign" that will guide advocacy, policy, media and constituency development to help "mobiliz[e] a U.S. response to the global AIDS pandemic that matches the magnitude of the challenge" (IAT release, 5/9). The United States currently spends approximately $500 million each year on programs that fight HIV/AIDS in other nations. Thurman said that she would also urge other wealthy nations to increase funding for international AIDS programs. As head of the federal AIDS office during the Clinton administration, Thurman spearheaded an effort that resulted in a $100 million boost in global AIDS funding (USA Today, 5/9).
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