We faith-based leaders want to know why Tennessee is declining HIV/AIDS funds
Last fall, I was inspired by Bono’s new memoir, Surrender, and his performance at the Ryman auditorium to write a retrospective opinion piece on the past 20 years and his influence on the evangelical community and its leadership in the HIV/AIDS movement.
Little did we know in 2002, when Bono met with Christian music artists and pastors in Nashville to rally evangelicals to fight HIV/AIDS, that more than 50 million lives would be saved worldwide because of the combined efforts and funding of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria, PEPFAR, and other partners.
The U.S. has led the world in fighting this single virus: HIV/AIDS.
I’m proud of the leaders from Nashville who have provided a sustained front to champion the funding and the destigmatization of HIV/AIDS in the aftermath of the culture wars in the 80s and 90s against victims of the disease.
Tennessee’s hub of Christian advocates wrote essays, created compilation albums, and participated in videos shared in churches and concerts across the nation to educate and activate Christians to the emergency of the pandemic. And, Senator-Doctor Bill Frist, chief architect and implementer of PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), as the Senate Majority Leader in the Bush Administration, led the way.
Governor Lee and Dr. Alvarado should give citizens an answer
Many of those supporters remain on the frontlines of advocacy for the disease today. Forty faith-based leaders who artists, non-profit leaders, pastors, and priests have taken a stand to ask Governor Bill Lee and our new health commissioner, Dr. Ralph Alvarado, to reverse course and rethink the acceptance of the funding from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) before the opportunity expires.
Thus far, this administration has declined to comment why we are the only state in the nation to refuse CDC funding. They have failed to provide any kind of clarity or specificity to this issue. If they had intention to supplement this funding from our state budget dollars, it should be noted that we desperately need that $9 million for other services — including TennCare expansion (another refusal by this administration of federal Medicaid funding), poverty issues leading to violent crime (we currently rank 4th in the nation), public health issues (we rank 44th in the nation), and our opioid crisis, just to name a few.
Leaders in the Christian faith are called by Jesus to attend to the hungry, the thirsty, and the stranger. We are to care for the sick, the unclothed, and the imprisoned (Matthew 25). Jesus himself didn’t care to spend time with Pharisees, Sadducees, the wealthy, or the elite. He sought out friendships among the fishermen, the harlots, the adulterers, the sick, and the poor. These were his friends; these were his beloved. To them he delivered the Beatitudes.
Tennessee rescind its new policy toward rejecting needed money
Our role is to hold accountable this administration to provide the necessary prevention, treatment, and care for increasingly ignored populations.
We stand united in urging Governor Lee and Dr. Alvarado to rescind the current plans to reject funding from the CDC for testing, prevention, and treatment of HIV in the state of Tennessee.
The decision to welcome the CDC funding of $9M is not only the best medical and economic decision, it is the best moral decision as well.
Dr. Jenny Eaton Dyer is the founder ofThe 2030 Collaborative and directs the Faith-Based Coalition for the Global Fund. If you are a faith-based leader in Tennessee and would like to join this letter, please emailjenny@2030collaborative.com.