As an EMT, I’m thrilled to hear that Pennsylvania is working toward getting its first responders full pay even if they have to stop working due to the coronavirus (“Pennsylvania bill would ensure full pay for first responders stricken with coronavirus,” April 13, TribLIVE). Just as the government is pushing ahead to aid our first responders, it should also be working toward ensuring that the brunt of the pandemic doesn’t fall on communities facing poverty around the world due to their limited access to health care.
Congress must prioritize both global and domestic health systems to fight this global pandemic. In the upcoming coronavirus response, Congress should include support for lower-income countries so that they can deal with the immediate health crisis and strengthen their health care systems in the long run. Our government currently supports international organizations that do exactly this, such as GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
I call on my senators, Bob Casey and Pat Toomey, to support continued funding for global health programs by signing onto the Senate Dear Colleague Letter to support PEPFAR and the Global Fund. It’s crucial that in a time like this everyone can have access to health care and be around effective disease prevention methods.
Shweta Gudapati
Franklin Park
The writer is a volunteer advocate for RESULTS, a bipartisan organization aiming to create the political will to end poverty by 2030.