Reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis

ONE supports halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis and providing universal access to care and treatment to all those who need it by providing our share of the global resource needs to achieve this goal, increasing effective funding to bilateral TB programs, and increasing funding to the successful Global Fund.

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I'll double annual foreign assistance from $25b to $50b by 2012, including at least $50b total by 2013 for HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB. That will mean lifting the 33% cap on US contributions to the Global Fund, ensuring at least 4.5 million people are on ARV treatment by 2013, and preventing 12 million new infections.

I believe that many nations will not reach their true potential without outside help to combat the entrenched problem of HIV/AIDS, which afflicts poorer nations more severely. It's critical that we face this crisis head-on, which is why I have consistently supported the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief program (PEPFAR).

Eradicating Malaria

ONE supports the goal of eliminating deaths from malaria as an interim goal on the way to eradicating the disease. We support the use of proven, effective, interventions (insecticide-treated bed nets, malaria treatment and indoor residual spraying) and believe the U.S. should provide our proportionate share of resources needed to achieve these goals.

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I will double funding for the President's Malaria Initiative and dramatically expand access to mosquito nets that for less than $6 will lower the risk of getting malaria and save lives. I will also expand access to ACTs - at the relatively inexpensive cost of $2 per dose - to treat people who get malaria.

As president, I will establish the goal of eradicating malaria -- the number one killer of children under five in Africa -- from the continent. Such a campaign would save millions of lives in the world's poorest regions where public health remains a critical problem.

Improving Child and Maternal Health

ONE supports saving the lives of nearly 10 million young children annually and over 500,000 mothers who die annually in childbirth. The U.S. should strengthen health systems in countries with strong governance by providing financial and technical resources, supporting improved access to existing vaccines, research for new vaccines, and providing low-cost interventions (to address nutrition and dehydration.

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I will increase funding for child and maternal health and ensure that increases in other important areas - including HIV/AIDS - do not come at the expense of child health and survival programs. I will expand access to vaccinations, increase research into new vaccines, and expand access to reproductive health programs.

The key to eradicating many diseases in poorer countries is through more accessible preventative health care, particularly prenatal and child care. We must work to wipe out childbirth disabilities and childhood diseases in poorer countries that were long ago eradicated in our own country, such as obstetric fistula and tuberculosis.

Achieving Universal Primary Education

ONE supports providing access to quality primary education for 72 million out-of-school children with a special emphasis on girls. We support aggressively scaling up assistance to support country-owned national education plans, supporting both improved quality and access, and will work with international organizations to provide funding for basic education in weak and fragile states.

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Worldwide, an estimated 100 million children - including nearly 60 million girls - are not attending school. By 2010, getting these children into school could cost $10b annually. To meet our share of that sum, I will invest at least $2 billion in a Global Education Fund.

Among the most important determinants of economic well-being is educational attainment. The statistics are undeniable; if you can get a decent education, you can free yourself from the threat of poverty. This is why we all should agree that a quality education is the right of every child.

Food and Clean Water

ONE supports cutting in half the number of people globally without safe drinking water and enough food by developing comprehensive hunger alleviation programs that allow food aid recipients to buy food in local and regional markets when possible, increasing resources dedicated to improving agricultural productivity, and improving essential infrastructure for nationwide water and sanitation systems.

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More than 1b people lack access to clean water, and that number will increase with the impact of climate change. The US has an obligation to increase access to clean water and sanitation. Through increased funding of up to $1.3b annually and innovative programs like 'play pumps,' I will expand access to clean water and sanitation.

I understand that no amount of development initiatives can succeed as long as the populations they are to serve go thirsty and hungry. The recent U.S. commitment to a public-private partnership to deliver clean water to 10 million Africans by 2010 is just one example of how the U.S. can help bring basic necessities to needy populations.

Additional commitments for the world's poor

We support more effective targeting of United States' development assistance, including efforts to coordinate the United States' development portfolio and among other donors and host countries. We support 100% debt cancellation for all highly indebted poor countries and the promotion of long-lasting growth in poor countries by improving trade and investment opportunities, including microcredit.

I'll make the Millennium Development Goals American policy. By the end of my first term I expect to see progress to meeting the MDGs, including reducing by half the number of people living on less than a dollar a day and suffering from hunger, and reversing the number of new HIV infections and malaria cases.

I would pursue policies that enable entrepreneurs and exporters to increase their access to international markets - which is critical to lifting nations out of poverty. These and other efforts would assist poorer nations in enabling their citizens to achieve their potential. I would also press nations on the critical importance on good governance and economic and legal reform, because no amount of assistance can succeed when governments fail their people.