Zeitz in the Huffington Post: Time for World Leaders, and Everyday People, to Stand Up for the MDGs

[Guest guest]

Time for World Leaders,

and Everyday People, to Stand Up for the MDGs

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-paul-zeitz/time-for-world-leaders-an_b_720074.html

I witnessed an inspirational sight last week in

Johannesburg: A committed group of Africans from seven nations demanded - in

the strongest terms possible - that their governments take action to end

pediatric HIV/AIDS and fulfill their longstanding pledges.

These were

not everyday citizens. The group - members of the Leadership Council of the Campaign to End Pediatric HIV/AIDS (CEPA) - includes

prominent activist Graça Machel, as well as a former deputy national director

of health for Mozambique and prominent doctors and researchers.

Just the site of these lay leaders

taking a stand with their governments was extraordinary.

Would you take such a stand? You can

next week. That's when global leaders will arrive in New York to attend the

U.N.'s Millennium Development Goals Summit. We need those national leaders to

take action and to take a stand like the one taken by members of the CEPA Leadership

Council.

Here's how

you can make a difference. Over the next week, there will multiple events in

several cities. In my home of Washington, D.C., for instance, there will be a

rally on Friday in Farragut Square Park, near the White House, to " Stand

Up " for the MDGs. Something similar is happening onSunday in New York at Lincoln Center Plaza from Noon-4 p.m. The Global AIDS Alliance will be manning the MDG #6 booth, and I hope you

will stop by to show your support.

You may be wondering what the MDG

Summit is all about. Ten years ago, the entire membership of the United Nations

adopted the Millennium Declaration: A commitment to end extreme poverty

worldwide by 2015. This declaration established eight goals - the

" MDGs " - each of which includes specific targets and indicators for

measuring progress.

The sixth goal specifically

addresses the HIV/AIDS pandemic, but all of the MDGs play an important role in

halting and reversing the spread of this disease, which undermines progress

toward the MDGs collectively.

It is now the eve of the 2010 MDG

Summit. After a decade of working toward these goals, we are dangerously close

to failing. There has been massive underfunding of supportive programs such as

the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which has

translated into lives lost and opportunities wasted.

It is time for world leaders to move

from talk to action. We need them to commit their fair share of financial

resources to achieve the MDGs. And in the case of the United States, that means

a pledge of $6 billion over three years to the Global Fund, which is an

international financing institution designed to help meet MDG #6.

Yes, there is an economic crisis.

That's what makes this pledge even more important now. We have seen time and

again that every country, every crisis is interconnected. For instance, poverty

and disease are inextricably linked, and this is especially true in the case of

HIV/AIDS. Currently, more than 95% of all people with HIV/AIDS live in

developing countries. People who are poor or lack education are often forced to

make survival choices that put them at increased risk of HIV infection.

Conversely, the spread of HIV also

increases the threat of poverty. At the household level, families face a loss

of income as wage-earners become ill, and many are forced to sell assets to pay

for HIV/AIDS medications and other health services, as well as funeral expenses.

At the community level, the HIV/AIDS epidemic places additional strain on

already over-burdened health care systems. Schools become dysfunctional as they

lose their teachers and students to illness and death. And farmers become too

sick to work, exacerbating food shortages.

Quite simply, eliminating extreme

poverty will make people less vulnerable to HIV, and slowing the spread of HIV

will help reduce poverty.

It is imperative that President

Obama and other world leaders follow through on their promises when they attend

the MDG Summit next week. It is imperative that they stand up, as did members

of the CEPA Leadership Council, and as I hope you are able to do, too.

A 3-year pledge of $6 billion by the

United States to the Global Fund would mean the difference between life and

death for millions of people.

Dr.

Zeitz is executive director of the Global AIDS Alliance

Follow Dr. Zeitz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@paulzeitz