A van full of ACT UP members went caroling at Secretary Clinton's house in Chappaqua, NY last night singing,
You better watch out,
You better not cry,
You better fight AIDS,
I'm telling you why:
Activists are here at your house!
Ms. Clinton was apparently home last night and couldn't miss the 50+ activists who braved the cold and snow to demand that she keep her campaign promises to fully fund the fight against global AIDS.
As a candidate, Ms. Clinton, along with then-candidate Obama, pledged $50 billion to fight global AIDS by expanding treatment and prevention efforts through PEPFAR (the President's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief) and meeting the US's commitment to the Global Fund for AIDS, TB, and Malaria). What happened instead is that President Obama and Secretary Clinton first budget cuts funding for Global AIDS over the next several years. Under their watch, clinics in Africa have stopped taking new patients, hospitals are facing stock outs (drugs aren't available because there's no money to buy them), and lines and waiting lists for treatment are growing for the first time since PEPFAR began (under the watch of President Bush).
Secretary Clinton has a chance to fully fund the fight against global AIDS, but she must stand up now and remind President Obama and the rest of his administration that we must meet our obligations, keep our promises, and end the pandemic.
