On Sunday, President Bush rejected changes Democrats want to his global AIDS program, calling on Congress to renew it as is. The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the largest-ever international health initiative devoted to one disease, enjoys broad support in the Democratic-controlled Congress. However, PEPFAR expires this year and a showdown is looming over its future terms and size.
Democrats want to remove requirements that one-third of PEPFAR's prevention money support abstinence-until-marriage programs and that some groups sign anti-prostitution pledges. Some also say that Bush's request for $30 billion over the next five years, twice the original commitment of $15 billion, is not enough because it merely continues PEPFAR at the current year's funding rate. Republicans say the proposed changes could derail PEPFAR's renewal.
While visiting Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in part of a six-day African trip, Bush said: "I understand there's voices on both ends of the political spectrum trying to alter the program. I would ask Congress to listen to leaders on the continent of Africa, analyze what works, stop the squabbling, and get the program reauthorized. I happen to think the current policy is reasonable. After all, it's working."
Bush was joined by Tanzanian leader Jakaya Kikwete, who said PEPFAR has prevented thousands of HIV infections among children. "My passionate appeal is for PEPFAR to continue," he said.
To date, PEPFAR has raised the number of Africans receiving antiretroviral treatment from 50,000 to 1.2 million.
02/17/08
Bush to Congress: ‘Stop the Squabbling,’ Renew AIDS Relief Program Without Changes
Source: Associated Press:: Jennifer Loven; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention