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A petition to President Barack Obama:

Under the new administration and congress, the United States has the opportunity to restore leadership in global health through a demonstrated commitment to the promotion of human and economic development and the preservation of human rights. We applaud your administration for the commitment that you have made to increasing U.S. foreign assistance in your budget proposal.

Health must be a pillar of U.S. foreign policy and foreign assistance. If the U.S. acts as a global citizen now, long-term diplomatic, economic, and security benefits for the United States will follow. Achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) must be a primary priority of a larger strategic plan to tackle global health challenges.

We must respond promptly in areas that have been neglected, such as child and maternal mortality and youth and women's reproductive health. We must also renew our commitments in areas where the U.S has already invested a great deal, such as HIV and AIDS. On all fronts, we must better implement existing tools to increase access to prevention, treatment, and care. This is particularly true in the case of tuberculosis, malaria, and other neglected tropical diseases.

Furthermore, to meet long-term global needs, we must invest in a way that is sustainable. For U.S. global health efforts to be most effective, we need to shift toward fully integrated health services. Funding must not solely be dedicated to specific health concerns but also to the development of health infrastructure such as by supporting the retention and training of health care workers.

Global health is at the center of the reduction of poverty and economic inequality and the path to a more socially just world. We must take action to ensure that the right to health is a reality for all people.

Together, we the undersigned:

Call on your administration to create a transparent, coherent, and sustainable U.S. global health strategy that recognizes health as a human right; articulates objectives and measurable targets; serves to strengthen national health systems; restores the focus on primary health care through the integration of programs; and supports flexibility in programming at the country level.

Furthermore, we urge your administration to honor existing U.S. global health commitments and commitments made by the Obama for America campaign and to prioritize them within the strategy.

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