Washington DC — President George W. Bush is settling down to his responsibilities as the leader of the United States and the "free world". As the leader of the sole super power, the President's moves and actions send signals across the globe. Nowhere is the power of the American presidency felt more than in the foreign policy arena. For example, despite the landslide election of Ariel Sharon in the Prime Minister elections of Israel, America will continue to "guide" Israel and the Palestinians to the negotiating table. The NATO alliance will continue to rely on American influence and Military might. The Koreans will sustain their fragile peace under the watchful gaze of American soldiers. The President, the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, and his foreign policy advisers, sooner rather than later, like all previous U.S. governments, will become engaged in delicate world affairs.
However, the new government will soon be confronted with a major foreign policy dilemma that will never go away: the plight, and potential death of more than 25 million Africans living with HIV/AIDS. According to the United Nations agency that is coordinating the pandemic (UNAIDS), 25.3 million Africans live with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS. Most of the infected are young men and women, 35 years or below, with small children, and at the prime productive stages of their lives. Every minute, 10 Africans contract the infection. Everyday in Africa, at least 5500 Africans die of AIDS. Since the beginning of the epidemic in the early 1980's, more than 17 million Africans have met their untimely deaths from the disease. Within the next 20 years, 41 million African children will become AIDS orphans, having lost one or both parents to the disease. In Botswana, 40% of its adult population are believed to be living with the HIV virus, and will likely die within a decade. Ten African nations have HIV/AIDS prevalence of 20% or more. To summarize, many African nations are under the vice grip of a ferocious disease that steals its young, sentences its very young to a life without parents, and burdens its elderly with the exhaustive task of simultaneously fending for themselves and their orphaned grandchildren.
An AIDS ravaged Africa cannot trade with any nation, practice effective democracy, enforce peacekeeping obligations, reform its economic systems or guarantee social justice. The World Bank and the United Nations projects that the reeling African economy will further decline by 25% within 15 years from AIDS. By 2015, many African countries will lose 30 years of their projected life expectancy to AIDS. As breadwinners die prematurely of AIDS, the struggle for scarce resources in Africa will intensify, and many nation states may disintegrate. Africa, as we know it, may cease to exist if sustained assistance is not forthcoming.
Africans should benefit from the Bush Administration's "compassionate" disposition. As an administration that touts compassion as a guiding principle, the plight of 25 million Africans living under a death sentence should elicit immediate and sustained response. For the next twelve months, as the global print and electronic media entities and energized civil society organizations focus on the plight of African AIDS victims, the Bush Administration will find it extremely difficult to ignore the precarious situation in Africa. The new administration will be called upon to demonstrate leadership in the following areas:
Resolving to maintain a strong political will on ending the epidemic. A clear signal will be the continued retention and operations of the White House Office on HIV/AIDS.
Resolving the current impasse over access to lifesaving drugs for African HIV/AIDS patients. The UNAIDS estimates that an African AIDS patient will require between $1,400 and $4,200 a year to access lifesaving antiretroviral drugs. Some generic manufacturers are pledging to provide these drugs at much reduced prices if they receive approval from the original pharmaceutical patent holders.
Funding prevention programs at community levels. The UNAIDS estimates that Africa needs $3 billion annually for effective preventive programs, yet only $300 million is spent.
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Reducing the debt of African nations. African countries are saddled with massive foreign debt repayment schedules ($15 billion a year) that significantly reduce outlays for health, education, food, and basic infrastructure. Some countries spend more money on debt repayments than their combined expenditure on healthcare and education. The Bush Administration will have to push the G-8 for major debt relief for African governments.
Rebuilding the healthcare infrastructure. Africa's healthcare system is tottering towards collapse from a combination of mismanagement, political neglect, and the onslaught of AIDS. In some African countries, AIDS patients account for 60% of all hospitalizations. The UNAIDS estimates that one year of basic medical costs for a person with AIDS is equivalent to two to three times a country's average yearly GDP per capita. According to the World Bank, a serious national HIV/AIDS program will require 1.5-2.0% of that nation's GDP.
