The federal response to the rapidly growing monkeypox epidemic is insufficient.
Send a message to your members of Congress to push them to take monkeypox seriously by fully funding the efforts to stop the spread of monkeypox.
Failing to learn from the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic and the early days of HIV, our elected officials have opted against taking swift preventative action, allowing an otherwise containable virus to reach epidemic proportions.
While it seems as if the Biden administration and some members of Congress are now realizing the severity and potential harm of the monkeypox crisis, there is still a disturbing lack of urgency to our federal monkeypox response, particularly around funding.
As the monkeypox epidemic evolves and HIV service organizations and community health centers across the country face increasing demands for monkeypox testing, treatment and vaccination, the need for a robustly funded and comprehensive federal plan to address monkeypox has only grown larger.
Earlier this month, the Biden administration formally requested that Congress allocated $4.5 billion to respond to the monkeypox epidemic. Congress has yet to act on this request, but they have an excellent opportunity to do so by attaching monkeypox funding to the short-term federal spending bill that Congress must pass by the end of September.
If there is any hope of containing the monkeypox epidemic and preventing the virus from being in the U.S. for decades, we need funding. Now.
Join us in telling Congress that we need $4.5 billion in emergency monkeypox epidemic funding for:
- Monkeypox vaccine development and distribution.
- Expanded monkeypox testing and treatment efforts.
- Culturally competent public education campaigns directed at health care providers, the public and groups that are disproportionately impacted by monkeypox.
- Increased resource allocation and outreach to Black and Brown men who have sex with men, who are having a disproportionately hard time accessing vaccination, testing and treatment services.
We cannot afford to wait any longer.
Email your members of Congress right now and tell them their constituents demand a federal response to monkeypox equal to the need in our communities.
