Kaisernetwork.org (Washington, DC)
17 April 2008
(Page 2 of 2)
Since 1996, more than 30 countries have received some form of debt relief equal to about $80 billion under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative. Waters said that under the program, Uganda has been able to allocate $58 million from debt repayments to address electricity shortages, malaria and water contamination. She added that Zambia has diverted $24 million to eliminate fees for health care in rural areas under the program. "Tragically, many other countries are still starving their children in order to pay their debts," Waters said. The measure still requires Congress to approve agreements to cancel the debts of individual countries, the AP/Google.com reports.
The countries designated in the bill owe about $24 billion to the World Bank, $2 billion to the International Monetary Fund and $11 billion to the African Development Bank and Asian Development Bank. The measure also includes a nonbinding resolution that says the U.S. should pay $600 million it owes to multilateral development banks. An amendment that was included in the bill and advocated by Republican lawmakers would prohibit debt relief to countries that conduct business with Iran.
Reaction, Comments
The White House in a statement said it does not support the bill because some of the countries covered are managing their debts or are actively working toward expanded access to international capital markets. "Providing debt relief to countries that can service their debt sends the wrong message," the statement said. The Bush administration also expressed concerns over the cost of forgiving debt, which is estimated to be about $1 billion over nine years.
Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), the ranking member of the House Finance Committee, said the new round of debt relief would cost every U.S. resident about $2. Debt relief "is dollar for dollar the most effective program in assuring our national security," Bachus said, adding, "We cannot just simply watch as these countries slip into chaos and discord." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said debt relief could eliminate "some of the factors that contribute to the fury of despair that leads to violence that makes the world less safe." Bishop Thomas Wenski of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in a letter to lawmakers said the bill "represents a major new step" toward making debt cancellation a reality for almost all heavily impoverished countries (AP/Google.com, 4/16).
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Across The Nation
Minnesota Reports 325 New HIV/AIDS Diagnoses in 2007, Health Department Report Says
[Apr 17, 2008]
There were 325 new HIV/AIDS cases diagnosed in Minnesota in 2007, up from 318 in 2006 and 304 in 2005, according to a report released Tuesday by the Minnesota Department of Health, the AP/Rochester Post-Bulletin reports (AP/Rochester Post-Bulletin, 3/15). The increase represents the highest annual increase since the mid-1990s, according to Peter Carr, director of the STD and HIV Section at MDH (MDH release, 4/15).
According to the report, 8,504 Minnesota residents have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS since 1982 when MDH began tracking the disease, including 2,912 people who have died of AIDS-related causes. Men accounted for 249 of the new diagnosed cases in 2007. Among the men, 52% were white, 32% black, 13% Hispanic and 3% were other races.
Diagnosed cases among black U.S.-born men in Minnesota increased 42% from 36 cases in 2006 to 54 in 2007, while diagnosed cases among black African-born men increased 33% from 18 to 24. Among white men, new diagnosed cases increased from 125 in 2006 to 129 in 2007, and diagnosed cases among Hispanic men decreased from 37 to 33, the report found. The report also found the number of new diagnosed cases among males ages 13 to 24 more than doubled from 18 in 2001 to 38 in 2007 (Wolfe, Minneapolis Star Tribune, 4/15). According to the report, 56% of new diagnosed cases in men were among men who have sex with men (MDH release, 4/15).
Of the 76 women diagnosed with HIV/AIDS last year, 26% were white, 54% black, 9% Hispanic, 7% American Indian and 4% were other races, the report found. According to the report, the number of new HIV/AIDS cases is increasing among minority communities, particularly among African immigrants. HIV prevalence was 13 times higher among U.S.-born blacks than among whites, 28 times higher among African-born blacks and eight times higher among Hispanics. The report said the disparities could be because of less education, access to health care, higher poverty, racism and greater drug use (Minneapolis Star Tribune, 4/15).
In addition, the report found that about one-third of people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in the state last year were "late testers," meaning they had already progressed to AIDS or were diagnosed with AIDS soon after receiving an HIV test. About half of Hispanics were considered late testers, the highest percentage among all groups, the report said.
Carr said the higher prevalence among minorities "may indicate" that the health department is "not reaching all communities equally with our prevention messages and programs." He added that it also could "mean that people are not being tested early enough in their infection to help stop" further transmission of the virus (MDH release, 4/15).
The report is available online.
St. Paul Pioneer Press Examines 'Emerging Challenge' of Supporting Long-Term HIV/AIDS Survivors
In related news, the St. Paul Pioneer Press on Tuesday examined the "emerging challenge" in providing support services for long-term survivors of HIV/AIDS. According to the Pioneer Press, the percentage of HIV-positive people in Minnesota who are ages 50 or older increased from 16% in 2002 to 25% in 2007.
"We need to continually reinforce safe sex and the importance of not transmitting this virus further," Lorraine Teel of the Minnesota AIDS Project said, adding, "The challenge of maintaining 100% perfect behavior over a lifetime is very difficult." Luisa Pessoa-Brandao of MDH's STD and HIV Section, said that public health officials also are concerned that people have "become complacent" about HIV/AIDS as treatment and survival rates have improved. Pessoa-Brandao said state officials are seeking new ways of bringing attention to the epidemic and are encouraging routine HIV testing (Olson, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 4/15).
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Opinion
Conservative Senators Should Not 'Drag Their Feet' on PEPFAR Reauthorization, Opinion Piece Says
[Apr 17, 2008]
Conservative Senate Republicans should not "drag their feet and jeopardize" the reauthorization of the President's Plan for Emergency AIDS Relief during the current congressional session, former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) writes in a Politico opinion piece, adding, "Delay is not the friend of those suffering abroad or ... of our own nation's health."
Although some lawmakers "balk" at the $50 billion price tag in the PEPFAR reauthorization bills (HR 5501, S 2731), authorizing funding for the program might be "some of the best money Congress can spend," Santorum writes. He adds, "It not only addresses a grave humanitarian crisis, it helps protect our nation" by creating "global goodwill."
Some senators also are concerned with the reauthorization's "focus on social policy," and it is "regrettable" that the new proposal lacks some provisions that protected abstinence funding, according to Santorum. However, he writes that the reauthorization measure actually "strengthens" PEPFAR's so-called "conscience clause," which ensures that groups would not be required to provide HIV/AIDS services they object to for moral or religious reasons. The proposal also maintains provisions that PEPFAR recipients pledge opposition to commercial sex work and excludes language that could possibly allow the use of funds for family planning services, according to Santorum.
PEPFAR "shows the world our heart and that America is a blessing to the oppressed and suffering across the globe," and it "needs reauthorizing now," he concludes (Santorum, Politico, 4/15).
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