1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

The Trump administration's abrupt stop-work order for PEPFAR, the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, has created an urgent crisis. This vital program provides life-saving HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention services to over 20 million people around the world. Clinics have closed, medication distribution has halted, and data systems have been dismantled, leaving countless vulnerable patients without access to essential care. This reckless action threatens to unravel decades of progress against HIV/AIDS and enable the virus to spread unchecked. I urge you to act swiftly to rescind this destructive order and restore full funding and operations for PEPFAR. The consequences of inaction are unthinkable – millions at risk of contracting HIV, developing drug resistance, or succumbing to AIDS. We cannot allow this humanitarian catastrophe to unfold. PEPFAR's work saves lives and furthers America's interests in promoting global health security. Its suspension undermines our moral leadership and jeopardizes hard-won public health gains. For the sake of the program's beneficiaries and America's standing in the world, I implore you to take immediate steps to lift the stop-work order and reinstate this indispensable initiative.