On World AIDS Day, The Crisis Continues...American Progress
According to reports released this week in conjunction with World AIDS Day, the number of people living with HIV globally has reached "an estimated 39.4 million people," up 3 million from 2002. As the number of people infected with the disease increases, so does the need for safe, effective and cost-efficient treatment. Bush has claimed AIDS relief to be a major priority for his administration, but, unfortunately, America's contribution to the fight against AIDS remains beset by favoritism and ideology. The administration's "most recent failure," says the Fort Wayne Gazette, "was not endorsing a broad consensus statement on prevention policy published in the Lancet." According to the Global AIDS Alliance (GAA), the administration abstained because the statement included an endorsement of contraception.
BACKING BIG PHARMA OVER COST-EFFICIENT DRUGS: The FDA didn't hesitate to approve the dangerous painkiller – but big moneymaker – Vioxx, despite knowing in advance the drug put patients at risk. But the regulating body cannot seem to get around to approving the effective drugs to combat AIDS. Such drugs have been approved and widely used for years by the U.N. and other international organizations, but the Bush administration maintains its own use of such drugs is subject to FDA approval. In the wake of the Vioxx scandal, AIDS officials are questioning the regulator's ability to act effectively. "After Vioxx and the flu vaccine debacle, why should we trust the FDA?" asked AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) president Michael Weinstein. "Tens of thousands have died because of FDA malpractice, whereas not one single person has been shown to be harmed by AIDS generics."
EXPORTING ABSTINENCE ONLY: Experts recognize the best way to stem the spread of AIDS is through a comprehensive preventative approach – including abstinence, faithfulness and the promotion of condoms. But Bush's initiative is "almost exclusively funding abstinence education," a method already proven to be ineffective at home. To support its position, the administration has made misleading and potentially harmful comments about contraception, including "citing an anti-condom study from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical medicine." Randall Tobias, the U.S. global AIDS coordinator who cited the study, was wrong. "The dean of the London School wrote to him to say the school had never produced any such report, and that its research shows that condoms do work." The U.S. has "removed information about condom use and references to the value of sex education and condom promotion from the Web sites of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Agency for International Development."
AIDS AT HOME: Much of the focus in recent years has been on the spread of AIDS abroad, but the virus remains a potent force at home. This year, 44,000 Americans were newly infected with HIV, with the balance of those cases affecting "smaller communities with less clout, such as African-American women. They represent 72% of new HIV diagnoses among all U.S. women." But as new infections have mounted each year, "the Bush-Cheney team [has] lobbied Congress not to increase domestic AIDS spending." And in FY 2004, the administration "actually cut funding for service centers that help low-income people with HIV get stable housing, drug addiction treatment and primary care, among a host of other things." That the issue fails to command the attention of American authorities was proven during the Vice Presidential debate, when Dick Cheney admitted he "had not heard" the numbers quoted by moderator Gwen Ifill.
