Child advocates press Congress for malaria, AIDS funding A Zambian caregiver, a corporate partner, and college students come together to call on Congress to increase resources to fight AIDS and malaria. April 3, 2008

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America has established strong leadership in the global fight against AIDS and malaria. In 2003, Congress passed the Global AIDS, TB and Malaria Bill to fund programs to fight these diseases in the poorest countries. World Vision works with Congress to ensure that this funding is protected.

The AIDS, TB and Malaria Bill

Authorization for this bill expires on Sept. 30, 2008. In order to continue and increase the U.S. contribution to the global AIDS and malaria fight over the next five years, World Vision is asking Congress to take action swiftly to pass this bipartisan legislation.

World Vision applauds the House of Representatives for passing this important piece of legislation on April 2 and calls on the Senate to do the same. Specifically, in passing the legislation, World Vision believes that the Senate should include the following critical provisions:

• Support a designation of $5 billion for malaria out of the $50 billion authorized in the legislation.
• Support the dedication of at least 10 percent of the bill's budget to care for orphans and other vulnerable children.

Craig Jaggers, World Vision's health and education policy adviser, explains: "By voting for passage of this landmark legislation, Congress has the opportunity to ensure that children who are impoverished and vulnerable as a result of diseases like malaria, HIV and AIDS and tuberculosis, receive the support and resources they need for a more hopeful future."

Zambian caregiver to visit Capitol Hill

To raise awareness about the tragic impact of these two diseases, Mrs. Lister Chingangu, a caregiver who partners with World Vision in Zambia, will be visiting the United States in April.

Seven years ago, as a pastor's wife seeing the effects of AIDS on her church congregation, Mrs. Chingangu decided to start a home-based care program, God Our Help Ministries. With her background as a nurse and her passion for caring for the sick, she started working as a caregiver and recruiting others to join the cause.

"When I see a person who was very sick and helpless comes back to life and continues her or his normal duties, I feel satisfied," Mrs. Chingangu says. "When a child who had no hope of going to school starts going to school, I feel satisfied; and when a mother who had nothing to give to her family starts doing something, such as selling tomatoes at the market in order to feed her family, I feel satisfied."

Through support from the World Vision-administered RAPIDS program, God Our Help has become a partner in a network of local aid groups implementing community-based care and outreach to orphans and vulnerable households in Zambia. The Global AIDS, TB and Malaria Bill promotes the availability of funding to support programs like RAPIDS.

Mrs. Chingangu will speak to a variety of audiences in the United States to share her experience and advocate for increased resources to combat AIDS and malaria. Among her stops is a visit to Capitol Hill on April 24, where she will be joined by a senior executive from McKesson Corp. — our valued Caregiver Kit partner — and Acting on AIDS students. Together, they will press the Senate to swiftly pass the Global AIDS, TB and Malaria Bill so the president can sign it into law. Children's lives depend on it.