Dec 10 2009

AIDS When President Obama campaigned for the Presidency he pledged to increasing PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) by over one billion dollars. He pledged to end the social politics that have haunted effective prevention, treatment and care around the issue of HIV/AIDS including such 'hot button' items as needle exchange, condom distribution, sex workers and other issues. Now it seems none of these efforts will become a reality soon in his presidency.

In a very disturbing article in The New York Times on Wednesday, it was revealed that the funding increase was much less than than pledged - in fact, $835 million less. The number of people who will receive promising antiretrovirals will drop by almost 180,000 a year with over a 30% decrease in assistance! Obama will be getting drugs to less people than in President Bush's last years in office! As the Times said,

"Right now, the problem is outrunning the solution; globally, for every two people put on treatment each year, five are newly infected."

Now the rational for this dramatic decrease is that important funds are needed elsewhere in the battle for a healthy environment for others around the world. My reaction is that the reduction could most likely be made up in one month of the war in Afghanistan! So as we pour troops into yet one more war, we are again asking patient groups and medical teams to compete against one and another for funds.

Even more disturbing in The New York Times article is what the Obama team HIV/AIDS plan refused to deal with:

"It is nearly silent on several controversial issues: how much Pepfar will emphasize abstinence, whether and how it will get condoms to patients of the many missionary hospitals that refuse to issue them, whether it will support women’s health clinics that also do abortions, whether it will support giving clean needles or methadone to drug addicts, whether it will require groups working with prostitutes to oppose prostitution, and whether it will cut off countries that criminalize homosexual sex."

You can read into that last line the continued silence by the Administration on the situation in Uganda. Will the disappointments ever end with this team?