Kaisernetwork.org (Washington, DC)
19 February 2008
Politics and Policy
Bush Calls on Congress To Reauthorize PEPFAR Quickly During Trip to Tanzania
State Department Changes Policy Disqualifying HIV-Positive People From Entering Foreign Service
Changes in Ryan White Distribution Causing Funding Shortages for Southern California HIV/AIDS Groups
Science & Medicine
Scientists No Closer To Developing HIV Vaccine Than 20 Years Ago, AAAS President Says
Global Challenges
Brazil Plans To Launch HIV Testing Centers, Advertising Campaign Encouraging HIV-Positive People To Seek Treatment
Media & Society
Product RED Art Auction Raises $42.6M for Global Fund Programs in Africa
Politics and Policy
Bush Calls on Congress To Reauthorize PEPFAR Quickly During Trip to Tanzania
[Feb 19, 2008]
President Bush on Sunday during a trip to Tanzania called on Congress to quickly reauthorize the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the New York Times reports (Gay Stolberg, New York Times, 2/18). Bush and first lady Laura Bush are on a five-country tour of Africa in part to highlight programs funded by PEPFAR and the President's Malaria Initiative (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 2/15).
PEPFAR initially was authorized to direct $15 billion over five years for HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis primarily to 15 focus countries. Bush in May 2007 called on Congress to increase this initial PEPFAR funding level to $30 billion for five years after the program's original mandate expires in September 2008 (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 1/29). Bush on Sunday criticized Democratic-proposed changes to PEPFAR and urged lawmakers to "listen to leaders on the continent of Africa, analyze what works, stop the squabbling and get the program reauthorized." Bush added that he thinks the "current policy is reasonable" and that "it's working" (Loven, AP/San Jose Mercury News, 2/17).
PEPFAR is a "balanced program," Bush said, adding, "It is an ABC program: abstinence, be faithful and condoms. It's a program that's been proven effective." He said that it is in U.S. "national interest" to address HIV/AIDS and related problems in Africa.
Laura Bush in response to critics who have proposed reauthorizing PEPFAR at $50 billion said focus countries do not have the resources to handle that large of an amount efficiently, adding that "for budget reasons" the program "should stay at $30 billion" (Gerstenzang, Los Angeles Times, 2/18). Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete said that "[d]ifferent people may have different views about" Bush, his administration and his "legacy" but that the Bush administration has "been good friends of [Tanzania] and have been good friends of Africa."
Bush and Kikwete both declined to answer questions about the upcoming U.S. presidential election and the campaign of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who is black and whose father is from Kenya. Kikwete said the "most important thing" for Tanzania regarding the next U.S. president is that he or she is a "good friend of Africa as President Bush has been" (Baker, Washington Post, 2/18).
Bush and Kikwete on Sunday signed a $698 million Millennium Challenge Account aid package to the country, which will be used for clean-water projects, hydropower development and to improve infrastructure, the Washington Times reports. Bush during the signing ceremony said Tanzania was receiving the grant, the largest awarded by the program to date, because the Tanzanian government is "committed to honest, decent government for the people" (Ward, Washington Times, 2/18).
After leaving Tanzania, the Bushes traveled to Rwanda, where Bush met with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and was scheduled to visit an HIV/AIDS project (Charles/Asiimwe, Reuters, 2/19). The president and first lady also visited Benin during their trip, the Times reports (Gerstenzang, Los Angeles Times, 2/17).
Broadcast Coverage
Several broadcast programs reported on the Bushes' trip to Africa. Summaries appear below.
"Ask the White House": Laura Bush is scheduled to discuss the trip Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. ET in an "Ask the White House" online chat ("Ask the White House" Web site, 2/19). Questions can be submitted online before the chat. A transcript will be available online after the chat.
ABC's "World News": The program on Sunday reported on Bush's popularity in Africa. The segment includes comments from Bush and Kikwete (Hendren, "World News," ABC, 2/17). Video of the segment and expanded ABC News coverage are available online.
NBC's "Nightly News": The program on Sunday profiled Evelyn Katabizi, an HIV-positive girl in Uganda whose mother died of AIDS-related causes. The segment includes comments from Katabizi (Fletcher, "Nightly News," NBC, 2/17). Video of the segment is available online. On Monday, the program reported on a foster home in Uganda for AIDS orphans. The segment includes comments from Nolena Nemukeza, founder of the foster home, and Stephanie Robertson of the U.S. Peace Corps (Fletcher, "Nightly News," NBC, 2/18). Video of the segment is available online. Expanded NBC News coverage is available online.
NBC's "Today": The segment includes a discussion with the Bushes about the trip and other topics (Curry, "Today," NBC, 2/18). Video of the segment is available online.
NPR's "Morning Edition": The program on Monday reported on the Bushes' trip to Tanzania. The segment includes comments from U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Mike Dybul and Bush (Thompkins, "Morning Edition," NPR, 2/18). Audio of the segment is available online.
NPR's "Weekend Edition Saturday": The segment includes a discussion with Laurie Garrett, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, about PEPFAR (Simon, "Weekend Edition Saturday," NPR, 2/17). Audio of the segment is available online.
NPR's "Weekend Edition Sunday": The segment includes a discussion with NPR correspondent Gwen Thompkins about the Bushes' trip (Hansen, "Weekend Edition Sunday," NPR, 2/18). Audio of the segment is available online.
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State Department Changes Policy Disqualifying HIV-Positive People From Entering Foreign Service
[Feb 19, 2008]
The U.S. State Department on Friday removed HIV from a list of medical conditions that automatically disqualify people from entering the Foreign Service, the AP/Google.com reports. According to the state department, Foreign Service candidates living with HIV now will be considered for positions on a case-by-case basis -- similar to candidates who have other illnesses, such as cancer -- to determine whether they are eligible for "worldwide availability."
The policy change comes less than two weeks before a trial in a lawsuit involving an HIV-positive man who was rejected by the Foreign Service despite his qualifications, the AP/Google.com reports. The lawsuit was filed in 2003 by Lorenzo Taylor, a trilingual international affairs specialist. Taylor passed the Foreign Service exam process but was denied when he revealed his HIV-positive status to the state department.
According to the state department, the policy was changed after consultation with medical experts and in response to the lawsuit. However, the department maintained that the policy never purposefully discriminated against HIV-positive people. The state department also noted that the previous policy had applied only to Foreign Service candidates, not those who had contracted the virus or other conditions during their tours, the AP/Google.com reports.
"We have a policy requiring that all Foreign Service officers be worldwide available as determined by a medical examination at the time of entry into the Foreign Service," Gonzalo Gallegos, a state department spokesperson, said, adding, "That has not changed." Gallegos said that the department's chief medical officer had "revised its medical clearance guidelines on HIV based on advances in HIV care and treatment and consultations with medical experts. The new clearance guidelines provide that HIV-positive individuals may be deemed worldwide available if certain medical conditions are met."
Taylor said in a statement, "Now people like me who apply to the Foreign Service will not have to go through what I did." He added, "They and others with HIV will know that they do not have to surrender to stigma, ignorance, fear or the efforts of anyone, even the federal government, to impose second-class citizenship on them. They can fight back." New York-based Lambda Legal -- which represented Taylor and advocates for homosexuals, bisexuals, transgender people and HIV-positive people -- applauded the change. "The new guidelines mean that candidates for Foreign Service posts who have HIV will now be assessed on a case-by-case basis, as the law requires," Bebe Anderson, the organization's HIV project director, said, adding, "At long last, the state department is taking down its sign that read, 'People with HIV need not apply.'"
Lambda Legal said the suit has been settled "partly due to the new guidelines." However, the state department said the policy change was not part of the settlement. "The change simply reflects medical advances in the area of HIV care and maintenance," Gallegos said (Lee, AP/Google.com, 2/16).
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Changes in Ryan White Distribution Causing Funding Shortages for Southern California HIV/AIDS Groups
[Feb 19, 2008]
Changes in the distribution of Ryan White Program money are creating funding shortages for Southern California-based AIDS groups, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports. According to San Bernardino County, Calif., health officials, about 7,400 people are living with HIV/AIDS in San Bernardino and Riverside counties (McGavin, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 2/14).
Congress in December 2006 reauthorized Ryan White to allow funding in more regions but less money for support programs -- including meals, housing and legal aid. In addition, Ryan White funding during the past several years has remained at about $2.1 billion annually, but more HIV-positive people are seeking treatment and living longer (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 8/2/07).
According to the Press-Enterprise, AIDS groups in Southern California have "scrambled" for funding in the past year, as requests for assistance have increased. The Inland AIDS Project received about $711,000 in 2007 from the Ryan White Program, down from about $1 million the previous year. Joy Gould, CEO of IAP, said that funding for food vouchers declined the most, from about $100,000 to less than $40,000. She added, "This last year has been the most difficult year we've ever had." IAP provides food vouchers, transportation, case management and other help to more than 1,300 people living with HIV/AIDS in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
Daniel Perez -- a program manager with the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, which distributes federal funds to about six providers in the region -- said this year's changes to the Ryan White Program are the "most drastic" since the legislation was enacted in 1990. As a result of the changes, 75% of funds must go toward medical, substance abuse and other services, and no more than 25% can be allotted to food vouchers, transportation and case management, Perez added.
David Brinkman, executive director of the Palm Springs, Calif.-based Desert AIDS Project, said the organization "saw a 25% increase in the number of patients in the last 12 months." He added, "We are forced to do more with less [money], and we're forced to go to our private donor community and ask for more. It's a huge strain" (Riverside Press-Enterprise, 2/14).
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Science & Medicine
Scientists No Closer To Developing HIV Vaccine Than 20 Years Ago, AAAS President Says
[Feb 19, 2008]
During the annual American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting on Thursday in Boston, AAAS President David Baltimore said scientists are no closer to developing an HIV vaccine than they were when vaccine research began, BBC News reports (Briggs, BBC News, 2/15).
Baltimore, a biology professor at the California Institute of Technology, said some scientists have begun to openly discuss the possibility of never developing an HIV vaccine because of the virus's ability to weaken the body's immune system while it progresses to AIDS (Connor, Independent, 2/15). "This is a huge challenge because to control HIV immunologically, the scientific community has to beat out nature," Baltimore said (BBC News, 2/15).
Baltimore added that the HIV vaccine development community is "depressed" after recent failed attempts to develop a vaccine but said that will not halt HIV vaccine research. The HIV vaccine community needs to begin "thinking about [vaccine development] in a very different way," he said, adding that scientists are beginning "trendy and difficult" research involving gene therapy, immunotherapy and stem cell therapy (Independent, 2/15). He added that researchers are trying to "design vectors that can carry genes that will be of therapeutic advantage" (BBC News, 2/15).
Baltimore said he is not "prepared" to say that an HIV vaccine will never be developed because he does not want to "take a pessimistic stance. I want to take an optimistic stance and say this is too important to give up on" (Independent, 2/15).
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Global Challenges
Brazil Plans To Launch HIV Testing Centers, Advertising Campaign Encouraging HIV-Positive People To Seek Treatment
[Feb 19, 2008]
On Thursday, Brazilian health officials announced plans to set up HIV testing centers in remote areas of the country and to increase advertising to encourage people living with HIV/AIDS to seek treatment, the AP/Advocate.com reports.
Mariangela Simao, head of the Brazilian Ministry of Health's National Program of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, said that many Brazilians living with the virus are waiting too long to seek treatment. Simao cited a survey of 115,411 people living with AIDS that found 44% of them had serious complications before beginning treatment. Simao said the delay in seeking treatment could be related to difficulties traveling to testing centers and some people's unwillingness to admit they are at risk for HIV (AP/Advocate.com, 2/15).
Simao said, "In a country like Brazil, where we have access to diagnostics and treatment, it is unacceptable" that detection is so late. The health ministry noted that the percentage of Brazilians not receiving treatment until the later stages of the disease is similar to that of developed countries, such as Spain, the United Kingdom and the U.S. (AFP/Google.com, 2/14).
According to Simao, people who sought treatment in the early stages of the disease lived longer and "remained active on the job market." However, those who waited until the later stages of the disease "either became too weak to work or died," she said.
The Brazilian government's HIV/AIDS treatment program provides no-cost antiretrovirals to everyone in need of treatment. In addition, the government distributes tens of millions of condoms annually in an effort to reduce the spread of the virus. About 600,000 people in the country are living with HIV/AIDS, the AP/Advocate.com reports (AP/Advocate.com, 2/15).
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Media & Society
Product RED Art Auction Raises $42.6M for Global Fund Programs in Africa
[Feb 19, 2008]
Irish musician and advocate Bono and British artist Damien Hirst on Thursday raised about $42.6 million at the Product RED art auction in New York City to benefit HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria programs in Africa, Reuters reports. The RED Auction included 83 red-themed works of contemporary art donated by several artists (Michaud, Reuters, 2/15). The proceeds will go to the United Nations Foundation to support Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria programs.
The auction raised significantly more than the upper pre-sale estimate of $29 million, AFP/Google.com reports. Artists who contributed their work included Georg Baselitz, Howard Hodgkin, Jasper Johns, Anish Kapoor and Jeff Koons. Hirst sold seven pieces for more than $19 million (AFP/Google.com, 2/15).
"Tonight we got serious about love, and not just the love of art, but the love of our brothers and sisters suffering from AIDS in the poorest places on the planet," Bono said in a release from Sotheby's auction house in New York. Sotheby's organized the auction (AP/Google.com, 2/15). The auction brought the total amount raised by RED to more than $100 million since it was launched (AFP/Google.com, 2/15).
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