Interfaith Community Letter Calling for the Restoration of Funding to End Neglected Tropical Diseases

As of September 2025

As faith leaders from diverse religious traditions, we come together united by a shared conviction: that every human life is endowed with dignity and worth. Our sacred texts and moral traditions call us to care for the sick, serve the poor, and act with compassion toward the most vulnerable among us.

Today, that call compels us to raise our voices in support of restoring U.S. funding to eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) — a set of debilitating illnesses that afflict more than one billion of our brothers and sisters, particularly in the world’s poorest communities.  Indeed, these diseases—some as old as time itself—strike the poorest of the poor: Those with no voice in policymaking or budget setting.

NTDs thrive in places of poverty — rural villages, urban slums, and refugee camps — disproportionately affecting children, mothers, and those already living on the margins. These diseases rob people of sight, mobility, and livelihood. They perpetuate poverty, stigmatize the vulnerable, and compound suffering. But they are not inevitable.

Thanks in large part to American leadership, this is a winnable fight. U.S. investments, including bipartisan support for global health programs and generous donations from American pharmaceutical companies, have helped deliver over 3.3 billion treatments. Mission hospitals, faith-based clinics, and local religious leaders across Africa, Asia, and Latin America have played a crucial role in bringing these life-saving medicines to remote and underserved communities.

Countries with large Christian populations — such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia — have made tremendous progress against river blindness and intestinal worms. In Muslim-majority nations like Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Sudan, NTD programs have helped lift millions out of cycles of disease and economic despair. In Hindu-majority India and Nepal, mass drug administrations have driven diseases like lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis) to the brink of elimination.

This progress is a testament to what is possible when faith, science, and compassion converge. The world has witnessed the tangible fruits of American generosity and vision. But that progress is now at risk.

Recent cuts to U.S. global health funding threaten this progress. That is why we, as faith leaders in the United States, urge Congress to restore funding for NTDs — not as an act of charity, but as an expression of justice, mercy, and global solidarity.

Our scriptures remind us:

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves” (Proverbs 31:8)

“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40)

“Whoever is able to protest against the transgressions of the world and does not, is accountable for the sins of the whole world.” (Talmud, Shabbat 54b)

“Whoever saves one life — it is as if they had saved all of humanity” (Qur’an 5:32),

“The best way to worship God is to serve the poor and suffering” (Bhagavad Gita-inspired teachings).

We appeal not just to the conscience of our legislators, but to their sense of moral leadership and national purpose. America has been a beacon of hope in the global fight against NTDs. Let us not turn back. The end of these diseases is within reach — if we have the courage and faith to finish what we started.

We stand ready to pray, to partner, and to persist — until no one suffers from NTDs. Until no community is left behind. And until dignity is restored to all God’s children.