Kaisernetwork.org (Washington, DC)
16 June 2008
Politics and Policy
HIV/AIDS Advocates Petition Sen. Reid To Override Sen. Coburn's Block on PEPFAR Reauthorization Bills
[Jun 16, 2008]
In a petition generated by MoveOn.org recently presented to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), advocates asked him to override seven Republican senators, led by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who are blocking a vote on measures (HR 5501, S 2731) aimed at reauthorizing the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, CQ Today reports. More than 15,000 people have signed the petition, according to CQ Today (Graham-Silverman, CQ Today, 6/13).
The Senate version of the PEPFAR reauthorization bill passed the Foreign Relations Committee in March, and the House version was approved 308-116 in April. Both the Senate and House versions of the bill would reauthorize PEPFAR at $50 billion over five years (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 4/4).
Coburn and six other Republican senators are blocking the legislation because they are opposed to the legislation's cost and "mission creep" into health and development efforts, CQ Today reports. In addition, they want language inserted into the measure that would guarantee that 55% of PEPFAR funding goes toward treatment, including antiretroviral drugs. Some advocates have said that they would agree to the treatment language but that efforts to compromise with Coburn have been ineffective. Coburn declined to comment on the negotiations.
According to CQ Today, it is unclear whether the legislation will reach the Senate floor this year. Supporters of the measure had hoped it would pass the Senate ahead of the Group of Eight industrialized nations summit in July. However, Reid's aides said there is nothing he can do in response to the petition. In addition, Senate Democrats have been unwilling to bring the measure to a floor vote because it would "give [President] Bush an item for his legacy on his way out of office," according to some advocates. "There's no political win for (Reid) if it passes," one advocate said.
Some other Republican senators also have expressed concern about the bill and an interest in offering amendments. In addition, Republicans are likely to criticize the $50 billion funding amount in the bill. Reid spokesperson Jim Manley said that the measure is a "priority" for Reid but that the bill "not only faces holds but also a ton of amendments."
Some international reproductive health groups, which are upset that the legislation does not link family planning programs and HIV prevention, have said it would be better to pass PEPFAR reauthorization legislation next year when there is a new administration. However, supporters have said the bipartisan support for the bill might not continue next year because of concerns over the U.S. economy.
In an effort to pass the measure ahead of the G8 summit and July 4 recess, supporters are launching an effort that will include a sit-in as early as this week in the Senate, as well as a protest march on June 26, CQ Today reports. Advocates also are encouraging the White House to increase pressure to pass the legislation. Mark Dybul, U.S. Global AIDS coordinator who administers PEPFAR, declined to comment on the negotiations but said they are ongoing. "Everyone's trying really hard right now," Dybul said (CQ Today, 6/13).
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G8 Nations Should Increase Aid to Africa To Meet 2010 Targets, Report Says
[Jun 16, 2008]
The Group of Eight industrialized nations should increase assistance to Africa in order to meet pledges to double aid to the continent by 2010, according to a report released on Monday in London by the Africa Progress Panel, the Washington Post reports. The report says that G8 progress toward meeting aid targets, which were set at annual summits in recent years, is a "mixed picture." Although wealthy nations have eliminated many debts owed by African countries, they have not done well on direct aid to the continent, according to the report. Unless major aid increases are made, most wealthy nations will be "well below" the collective target of $130 billion in aid by 2010, the report says. It adds, "We are in a situation where it is increasingly clear that traditional budgetary resources are too overstretched to meet aid pledges, unless innovative financing mechanisms are promptly put in place."
The report was released ahead of the G8 summit scheduled for July in Hokkaido, Japan. The Africa Progress Panel report "echoes criticism from President Bush, who has complained that other G8 countries have not fulfilled promises aimed at stemming AIDS and malaria," the Post reports. Bush during his weekly radio address on Saturday said, "To achieve this noble goal, all nations must keep their promises to deliver this urgent aid." White House officials have said that they expect Bush to make Africa a primary focus during the summit and that the U.S. is on target to double aid to Africa to $8.7 billion by 2010.
The Africa Progress Panel was created by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and includes former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, singer and advocate Bob Geldof, Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus and former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. Annan in an interview praised Bush for his efforts for Africa but said that the U.S. should increase the percentage of its economy allocated to development assistance. Annan added that France and Japan should increase aid to Africa.
The report released on Monday is the first from the panel and focuses on increasing food prices, according to the Post. According to the report, food prices are threatening to reverse gains made in addressing HIV/AIDS, reducing poverty and boosting economic growth. "Unless some way can be found to halt and reverse the current trend in food prices, there will be a significant increase in hunger, malnutrition, and infant and child mortality," the report says. It adds, "Many countries are already experiencing the reversal of decades of economic progress, and 100 million people are being pushed back into absolute poverty."
The report makes a variety of recommendations, including increasing emergency assistance to the U.N. World Food Programme, eliminating food tariffs and pledging new investments to bolster agricultural productivity. According to Annan, the focus of the July G8 summit should be to fulfill commitments already made to Africa. Speaking about recent economic gains, Annan said, "All this could be rolled back by the food crisis, a lack of follow-through of promises made. ... What we really ask of the G8 is not to make new promises but to meet the promises that have already been made" (Abramowitz, Washington Post, 6/16).
The report is available online.
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Across The Nation
More Than Half of AIDS-Related Deaths in Washington, D.C., Not Reported, Analysis Finds
[Jun 16, 2008]
More than half of the AIDS-related deaths that occurred in Washington, D.C., from 2000 to 2005 were missed by the city's system for reporting such deaths, according to an analysis by the district's Department of Health and CDC that was published recently in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the Washington Post reports. The underreporting of AIDS-related deaths suggests that the epidemic "may be taking a far greater toll" on the district than health officials had originally thought, according to the Post.
For the analysis, city health officials worked with CDC to review all death certificates from 2000 to 2005 in an effort to identify deaths that appeared to be AIDS-related. They compared that number with the deaths that had been reported and discovered the discrepancy, the Post reports. According to the analysis, of the 2,460 deaths from AIDS-related illnesses that occurred between 2000 and 2005, 1,337 had not been reported because the city's system for tracking them was "inadequate," the Post reports. Officials launched the investigation because of health officials' increasing concern that they were undercounting the number of district residents living with HIV and those dying of AIDS-related causes, in part because they discovered boxes of unexamined paper records. Shannon Hader, senior deputy of the health department's HIV/AIDS Administration, said the analysis "tells us our surveillance system wasn't complete enough," adding, "We're clearly underreporting."
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