Friends of the Global Fight: Backing Civil Society in the March to End Epidemics
Mark P. Lagon, chief policy officer at Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and Ryan Kaminski, senior program manager for human rights at the United Nations Foundation, discuss the role civil society plays in global health efforts as well as the U.S. role in supporting and investing in civil society. The authors write, “[B]acksliding on [the Global Fund’s] remarkable record, a veritable U.S.-spearheaded Marshall Plan for public health, when it is halfway finished remains a possibility. Shortsighted proposed funding cuts present more than one obstacle. … Successful transition to countries taking responsibility for their own disease response and ending epidemics for good requires thought and investment from the U.S. about civil society now more than ever” (1/24).