Kaisernetwork.org (Washington, DC)
31 July 2007
Politics and Policy
Rep. Waxman Releases Drafts of Global Health Report Reportedly Blocked by Bush Administration Official
[Jul 31, 2007]
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) on Monday released two different drafts of a 2006 surgeon general report on global health that reportedly was withheld from the public by a Bush administration political appointee, the Los Angeles Times reports (Alonso-Zaldivar, Los Angeles Times, 7/31). Former Surgeon General Richard Carmona, who commissioned the report while serving in the position from 2002 to 2006, at a July 10 House committee hearing testified that the report was suppressed. Carmona told lawmakers that as he attempted to release the report, he was "called in and again admonished ... via a senior official," who said the report "will be a political document, or it will not be released." HHS' Office of Global Health Affairs head William Steiger, who according to newspaper reports blocked the report from being released, said he disagreed with Carmona's statements regarding the report (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 7/30).
Waxman on Monday released both Carmona's draft and the HHS outline of the report. According to the Times, the differences between the two versions have "added fuel to the controversy over whether the Bush administration has politicized science and medicine," as well as placed "political and ideological messages ahead of scientific information." The Times reports that the HHS outline included "praise" for "President Bush's initiative against AIDS in poor countries" and U.S. initiatives to improve public health in Iraq and Afghanistan, while Carmona's report included condoms as an effective way to prevent HIV transmission, "decried global pollution and violence against women."
HHS spokesperson Bill Hall said the report was not released because a review raised "strong concerns (from) multiple agencies." Waxman, chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said that information from the HHS outline was inaccurate, according to the Times. For example, it highlighted microbicides "near final development" that women could use to protect themselves from HIV. Waxman in a letter to HHS said that this information is misleading because no "microbicide has been approved for reducing HIV infection." He added that an "international microbicide development organization predicts five to seven years until a product is available."
Carmona on Monday would not comment on the situation but said that he is willing to testify again before Congress if asked (Los Angeles Times, 7/31). Hall said that Steiger's outline was meant to serve as guidance for Carmona while he drafted the report (Lee, Washington Post, 7/31).
The two versions of the report and Waxman's letter to HHS are available online.
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House Foreign Affairs Committee To Consider Global Health Measures
[Jul 31, 2007]
The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday will consider two measures aimed at improving global health, CQ Today reports. One measure (HR 1302), sponsored by Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), would require the president to establish a foreign aid policy that incorporates all agencies administering such aid. The measure would use the U.N. Millennium Development Goals -- which include reducing the spread of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and eradicating poverty and hunger -- as a guideline to meet its targets. In addition, the measure would require that the State Department provide Congress with annual progress reports, according to CQ Today.
Another measure (HR 1567), sponsored by Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), would provide $330 million in fiscal year 2008 and $450 million in FY 2009 for the Global Plan to Stop TB, which was developed by the Stop TB Partnership and the World Health Organization. The measure also would allocate $70 million in FY 2008 and $100 million in FY 2009 to CDC for tuberculosis control efforts. In addition, the measure would direct $15 million annually to the Global Drug Facility, which has provided access to TB drugs to 10 million people since 2001, according to CQ Today (Graham-Silverman, CQ Today, 7/30).
Link to this story.
Across The Nation
New Jersey Will Not Allocate Money for Newark's Pilot Needle-Exchange Program, City Health Officials Say
[Jul 31, 2007]
Health officials in Newark, N.J., announced recently that the state is not providing money for the city's proposed $1.2 million needle-exchange pilot program despite funding applications for the program, the Newark Star-Ledger reports. The city's pilot program is seeking to reach as many as 300 injection drug users during its first year through fixed and mobile sites, according to an application filed with the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. However, without state funds, the city will have to "scale back its effort or find the money elsewhere," the Star-Ledger reports (Durando, Newark Star-Ledger, 7/30).
Health department spokesperson Tom Slater in June said that the department was considering criteria from five cities, including Newark, to establish needle-exchange programs and that a decision was expected soon. He added that the first pilot projects likely would be launched by the end of the summer.
New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D) in December 2006 signed into law a bill that allows six cities to establish needle-exchange programs and provides $10 million to drug treatment programs in the state. The state health commissioner under the legislation must report to the governor and state Legislature on whether the needle-exchange program is effective. In addition, people who participate in and run the programs would be required to carry identification cards that protect them from being arrested for possessing drug paraphernalia. To be eligible for the program, a city must have at least 300 HIV/AIDS cases attributed to injection drug use per 100,000 residents and at least 350 confirmed HIV/AIDS cases overall (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 6/14).
Slater said recently that there is "no money in the budget" for needle-exchange programs, adding, "All applicants were told that there was no state funding for the needle-exchange portion of the project." Marsha McGowan, a Newark health officer, said, "To come up with an application that has that kind of budget, certainly without a source of income, we would have to come up with something smaller." She added that city health officials were "under the impression, as a matter of fact we were told, to submit a budget based on our need."
Eddy Bresnitz, deputy commissioner of Health and Senior Services, said, "The state was given the task of overseeing" the programs. Bresnitz added that New Jersey is "requiring all the (applicants) to demonstrate that they can do the programs, but they also have the resources to do that." Wesley Tahsir-Rodriguez, AIDS director for Newark, said, "I've never heard of anybody issuing a request for an application without any funding for it," adding, "Why would we even need to submit a plan if there was no money?" (Newark Star-Ledger, 7/30).
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Global Challenges
China Bans Advocates From Holding Meeting on Rights of People Living With HIV/AIDS, Organizer Says
[Jul 31, 2007]
China has banned the New York City-based Asia Catalyst, an HIV/AIDS advocacy group, from holding a conference that was scheduled for early August in Guangzhou, the capital of the country's Guangdong province, conference organizer Sara Davis said recently, Reuters reports. According to Davis, Chinese authorities said that the conference was prohibited because the "combination of AIDS, law and foreigners was too sensitive."
The conference, co-organized by China Orchid AIDS Project, would have brought together 50 experts and advocates from Canada, China, India, South Africa, Thailand and the U.S. to discuss methods to promote the legal rights of people living with HIV/AIDS in the country. Conference participants also were expected to discuss discrimination, blood safety and the establishment of a legal aid center for people living with the disease, Reuters reports.
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