- Sovereign debt prevents 3.4 billion people from accessing health and education
- AHF demands three concrete reforms to put people before profits
- In 2023, developing countries paid $25 billion more to creditors than they received in new loans
Los Angeles, California, June 10, 2026 – The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) announces
the launch of the global Debt Free campaign, an initiative that exposes how the global sovereign
debt system is stifling development in the developing world and demanding urgent reforms that
allow countries to invest in health, education, and human infrastructure.
The campaign focuses on a crisis that directly affects 3.4 billion people: those who live in countries forced to spend more money on debt payments than on health or education. Meanwhile, these countries pay interest rates up to 1000% higher than developed nations, and lose $3 trillion annually that leaves their economies through debt payments, interest and tax evasion.
Debt injustice is a human rights crisis that no one is talking about, says [Name of AHF Regional Spokesperson]. While poor countries cut hospitals and schools to pay interest to international banks, their populations suffer. This is not
economics is structural oppression.
The global debt system is built on financial rules inherited from colonialism, economic structures that were never dismantled, and the dominance of multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, together with private creditors who control the terms of negotiation.
In 2023, developing countries paid $25 billion more to their creditors than they received in new loans. This inverse flow of wealth means that the money that should be invested in development goes directly to pay interest on imposed debts.
The situation is particularly serious in crises. When natural disasters, pandemics, or health emergencies strike, countries still have to pay their debts. This forces governments to choose between saving lives or maintaining their financial solvency. During the COVID-19 pandemic and more recently with the floods in Pakistan in 2022, entire countries have had to sacrifice emergency responses to avoid default.
1. Debtors’ Forum: Power in Unity
Developing countries negotiate with creditors on an individual basis, which means they have almost no bargaining power. AHF demands the creation of a Global Debtors’ Forum where the nations of the Global South negotiate together as a unified bloc. This proposal was already endorsed by the Seville Summit on Financing for Development and the G20 in South Africa in 2025.
When countries negotiate together, they can demand fair terms, reasonable interest rates and terms that prioritize human development.
2. Automatic Debt Pauses in Crises
During public health emergencies, climate disasters, and humanitarian catastrophes, countries should be able to automatically pause debt payments without incurring additional interest. You can’t choose between paying banks or saving lives.
This action is urgent: climate change is generating more disasters, and the world is not yet prepared for the next pandemic. Countries need financial flexibility to respond to crises.
3. Solidarity Contribution on Artificial Intelligence Artificial
Intelligence companies are generating massive profits while poor countries cut health and education services to pay down debt. AHF is demanding a global 1% tax on the capital investments and revenues of major AI companies, with the resources earmarked for debt relief and essential public goods in the South Global.
The new wealth generated by AI cannot enrich only a few while the developing world becomes poorer.
Without urgent reform, the current system will continue to extract wealth from the world’s most vulnerable countries, limiting their ability to achieve progress, protect human dignity, and build a stable and equitable future.
Follow the campaign and join the global movement: #FreedomFromDebt
PRESS CONTACTS
AHF Latam & Caribbean
Sergio Lagarde Moguel
PR Director
[email protected]
AHF Global Institute of Public Health
Oluwakemi Gbadamosi
Deputy Executive Director
AHF Global Institute for Public Health
[email protected]
AHF United States
Denys Nazarov
Director of Global Policy and Communications
[email protected]
Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the world’s largest public health organization in the response to HIV, AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections. It currently provides medical care
and/or services to more than 3 million people in 50 countries: the United States, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region, and Europe.
Learn more about AHF at:: ahflatamycaribe.org
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