1. United States
2. Mo.
3. Letter

Launched by President George W. Bush in 2003, the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has saved more than 26 million lives. Today it keeps 20 million people alive on HIV treatment and has built the laboratory and disease-surveillance systems that protect Americans every day from outbreaks that begin overseas. Most of the overseas offices and workforce of the Centers for Disease Control are sustained by PEPFAR funding. When emergencies strike, CDC country offices deploy staff within hours and CDC-supported laboratories sequence viruses within a day, drawing on decades of partnership. The recent Ebola and Hantavirus outbreaks remind us that America’s overseas public health presence is not only charity (nothing wrong with that); it protects American lives, too.. Right now PEPFAR and CDC’s global public health work is being dismantled quietly – not by Congress, but through administrative decisions at the U.S. Department of State. - On May 5, the State Department released guidance that would destabilize CDC’s global health work and limit CDC’s ability to have staff on-the-ground overseas. - CDC’s funding for PEPFAR and other global health programs would be at the discretion of foreign governments based on a fee schedule established by the State Department. The collapse of PEPFAR and weakening of America’s global health security can be prevented. You must: 1) Direct the transfer of funds from PEPFAR appropriations to CDC, in an amount no less than what was provided in fiscal year 2026, to sustain CDC’s global health security, laboratory strengthening, disease surveillance, and HIV programs. 2) Require a transparent, multi-year transition plan before any changes to the PEPFAR-CDC partnership take effect, ensuring that country ownership grows in a sequenced, responsible manner and that American technical capacity is preserved during any handoff. Lives are at stake. PEPFAR works — and YOU MUST ENSURE it continues to save lives and strengthen global stability.