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AIDS and STDs
5/12/03 <link>
Thank
you Mr. Gates
We have been meaning to write about the remarkable
charitable work from Bill Gates and the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation - and this Salon article came along. So, we will simply
quote the article since we agree with what it says.
"...Five
years ago, in a story on Bill Gates' philanthropy, Salon asked
the question, "Is Bill Gates a Closet Liberal?" At the
time, Gates had not yet really opened the floodgates of his charitable
giving, but a close look at the causes he had supported indicated he was
interested in reproductive health and family planning issues, and
fighting the spread of infectious diseases, with a focus on the Third
World. Since then, Gates has publicly promised to give away 95 percent
of his wealth -- $43 billion as of September 2002 -- and he appears to
be living up to his words.
In "Health, Wealth, and Bill Gates," a new installment of "NOW
With Bill Moyers" airing Friday night on PBS, Gates talks at
length about his involvement in global health issues. The interview is a
fascinating, detailed look at how and why Gates is giving away his
billions. And while it doesn't definitively answer the question of
whether Gates is a liberal -- saving dying children is not the province
of a particular ideology -- one thing emerges: Gates may go down in
history as the single individual who did more to help the world's
neediest people than anyone who has ever lived. In the interview, Gates
comes off as knowledgeable, sincere and determined to use his wealth to
effect massive change. Whatever you think of his business practices,
when it comes to global health he is one righteous dude.
Gates may not show his hand politically, but he is surprisingly willing
to critique the almighty market, going so far as to call the plight of
poor women and children in developing nations "a failure of
capitalism." In rich nations, he notes, market forces deliver
advanced medical services to the population, but in poor nations,
especially in the area of infectious diseases, "[capitalism] has
let us down."
One can sense the frustration of a successful computer programmer in
Gates' approach. As he stresses repeatedly, when a plane crashes in
India and 100 people die, it makes news all over the world. Meanwhile,
8,000 children are dying every day of preventable illnesses, and there
is no coverage. Gates doesn't come out and call this disparity a
"bug" in global attention span software, but he does label it
"a mistake." And he intends to correct it.
Gates isn't a bomb-thrower. He blandly ducks a pointed question from
Moyers asking him to comment on the Bush administration's opposition to
funding for reproductive health and family planning services worldwide.
Instead, he takes the American citizenry to task, finding them at fault
for not making global health "a grass-roots" issue. It's hard
to argue with this in the abstract, but in the context of the question
it amounts to blaming U.S. citizens for their president's actions.
But then he makes an interesting, indirect critique, referring to
unnamed "leaders" who have made fighting global terrorism a
long-term goal. Gates suggests that "young people" around the
world are watching the United States to see how it acts on the global
stage. "If we don't step up to these health issues, we're not
addressing these issues," he says, with the implication that it
will hurt us in terms of world perception, and possibly fuel further
terrorist acts against the U.S.
It would be foolish to expect Bill Gates to start flinging direct
attacks at George Bush -- indeed it might even be seen as ungrateful,
after Bush's new Justice Department made the decision to settle the
government's long-running antitrust action against Microsoft with a
pathetic slap on the wrist. But in this case, actions speak louder than
words.
Salon
has devoted years of coverage to arguing that Microsoft's monopolistic
behavior has hurt American consumers and unfairly destroyed its business
competitors. And we're not going to stop criticizing the Redmond giant
when we think criticism is warranted. But watching this show places
those sins in perspective. Gates may be a ruthless businessman, but he
is giving away billions of his dollars in a dedicated effort to fight
AIDS, develop vaccines for scores of deadly diseases, and improve
educational and healthcare opportunities for millions of impoverished
women and children. Yes, our right to have a choice in operating systems
is important. But it is nothing compared to the right of a child in
India or Uganda to live free of crippling disease. On the most important
issue, Gates passes the test with flying colors."
2/1/03 <link>
(updated 2/16/03)
President Bush proposes significant
funds for AIDS effort, within and outside the U.S.
As pointed
out by the New York Times, President Bush has "...proposed
committing $10 billion in new money over the next five years to an
emergency plan for AIDS relief that would finance AIDS prevention,
treatment and orphan care in some of the most hard-hit countries in
Africa and the Caribbean...." The Times also adds that,
"...Congress should also direct the bulk of
Washington's contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis
and Malaria, the organization that the international community has
established. Yesterday Health Secretary Tommy Thompson was elected
chairman of the Global Fund's board. Mr. Bush wants to channel only $1
billion of the $10 billion through the organization. That would be a
serious blow to the fund, which has more good proposals from countries
than it can finance, and would eliminate the chance to raise matching
funds from other nations. The Bush administration's preference for
unilateral solutions is likely to lead to a far less efficient use of
the money. American conduits, such as the Agency for International
Development, are not in a position to administer the funds, and it is
counterproductive to build a parallel bureaucracy when an existing
organization of proven efficiency and an identical mission desperately
needs financing..."
Additionally, as the New York Times also
reports, Mr. Bush is proposing increasing the funding for fighting
AIDS inside the U.S. by 7% from 2003, to $16 billion. These actions
are welcomed.
BUT...
While we are considerably encouraged by both these actions, coming as they
did after his recent
controversial appointments to the Presidential
Advisory Commission on AIDS/HIV, we had some degree of skepticism
about the motives behind the actions. (Additionally, it is not
unusual for Mr. Bush to say one thing in public and do something
else altogether subsequently.). Now, it turns out - as
TPM points out - the Brookings Institute has shown that
the funding for AIDS in Africa has come in part due to cuts in other
existing African child-health aid programs. "...This
is because the Administration’s increase of $450 million for the
Global AIDS initiative is offset by a $470 million shortfall in its
Child Survival and Health request relative to the fiscal 2003
appropriations bill...."
1/22/03 <link>
(UPDATED 1/24/03)
President
Bush appoints "AIDS=Gay Plague" believer to Presidential
Advisory Commission on AIDS and HIV
This is a fella by the name Jerry Thacker who formerly worked for the
repulsive Bob Jones University - you know the one that also banned
interracial dating?
As much as we
find it disturbing to have to point out painful facts, we feel compelled
to do so to reveal the repulsiveness of the Thacker appointment (and
others like Tom Coburn - as described below). As the National
Institutes of Health points out,
"...Worldwide, more
than 80 percent of all adolescent and adult HIV infections have resulted
from heterosexual intercourse....". Moreover,
note that, "...By the end of 2001, according to the World Health
Organization (WHO), 19.2 million women
were living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, accounting for 46 percent of the 42
million adults living with HIV/AIDS...
Women are
particularly vulnerable to heterosexual transmission of HIV due to
substantial mucosal exposure to seminal fluids. This biological fact
amplifies the risk of HIV transmission when coupled with the high
prevalence of non-consensual sex, sex without condom use, and the
high-risk behaviors of their partners. Older women
are also increasingly being diagnosed with HIV infection. In 2001, women
aged 45 and older accounted for 18 percent of the female AIDS cases
reported to CDC.
HIV infection
disproportionately affects African-American and Hispanic women. Together
they represent less than 25 percent of all U.S. women, yet they account
for more than 82 percent of AIDS cases in women. In 1999, HIV/AIDS
was the fifth leading cause of death among women ages 25 to 44 and the
third leading cause of death among African-American women in this age
group. Women suffer from the same complications of
AIDS that afflict men but also suffer gender-specific manifestations of
HIV disease, such as recurrent vaginal yeast infections and severe
pelvic inflammatory disease, which increase their risk of cervical
cancer. Women also exhibit different characteristics from men for many
of the same complications of antiretroviral therapy, such as metabolic
abnormalities.
Frequently, women with HIV infection
have great difficulty accessing health care, and carry a large burden of
caring for children and other family members who may also be
HIV-infected. They often lack social support and face other challenges
that may interfere with their ability to adhere to treatment regimens..."
With that perspective, lets come back to Thacker,
about whom the WP article points out,
"...In his speeches and writings on his
Web site and elsewhere, Thacker has described homosexuality as a
"deathstyle" rather than a lifestyle and asserted that
"Christ can rescue the homosexual." After word of his
selection spread among gays in recent days, some material disappeared
from the Web site. Earlier versions located by The Washington Post that referred
to the "gay plague," for instance, were changed as of
yesterday to "plague."...Thacker's
promotional materials stress the need for compassion toward all people
with AIDS, and they urge churches to think "Christianly" about
people with AIDS and to hate the sin, but love the sinner. "Be
compassionate to those caught up in this sinful deathstyle," the
Bob Jones summary said. "Only when homosexuals know it is a sin can
they repent." Separately quoted in this
article is Carl Schmid, "...a Republican gay
activist who worked on President Bush's 2000 campaign, said he was
disappointed and frustrated that HHS disregarded warnings that Thacker's
selection would overshadow the commission's valuable work. 'We
need to have a scientific-based approach to the problems of HIV-AIDS and
not this radical agenda he's pushing,' Schmid said. Aside from the
harshly anti-gay tone of Thacker's rhetoric, Schmid said, his major
objection to Thacker is his aggressive lobbying for
abstinence-until-marriage education. 'Abstinence-until-marriage does not
help anyone in the gay community, because we can't get married," he
said. "If you are a gay youth, who is addressing your concerns?'..." Atrios
has more on this outrage. In the meantime, the Washington Post is
reporting that Thacker
has withdrawn due to the criticism. Additionally,
Mr. Bush has appointed other perverse people to the Commission as well
as NSD
shows [via Atrios]
(bold text is our emphasis):
"...
Tom Coburn, Co-Chair
Former Rep. Tom Coburn (R-OK)
received a 0% Congressional voting rating in all three of his terms from
the Human Rights Campaign. In addition to his poor record on issues of
concern to the gay and lesbian community, Coburn consistently voted
against needed HIV/AIDS legislation. Coburn also called for the firing
of the Director of the Centers for Disease Control because the CDC
promotes condom use to prevent transmission of the HIV virus. Rich
Tafel, Executive Director of LCR, has called Coburn’s past votes
"morally wrong and politically dangerous." (Washington Blade,
May 07, 1999)
Louis Sullivan, Co-Chair
Dr. Louis Sullivan was HHS
Secretary for President George Bush. Sullivan is known for addressing
HIV/AIDS issues in communities of color, and for supporting needle
exchange efforts. However, as HHS Secretary, Sullivan extended the
Bush Administration’s ban on allowing HIV-positive people, and gays
and lesbians, from entering the country. Sullivan also encouraged
HIV-positive people, and gay men, to stop having sex. As HHS
Secretary, Sullivan argued for guidelines that would have prevented
HIV-positive surgeons and dentists from operating, and he repressed a
government study on suicide among gay teens so that it would not be
linked to the Bush Administration. Sullivan’s relationship with a
scam artist, who claimed to have a vaccine for AIDS, was used to swindle
millions out of investors before Sullivan realized that the vaccine did
not exist.
Pat Ware, Executive Director.
Ware’s appointment is disturbing due to her advocacy that undermines
safe-sex education and that shifts away money from prevention efforts in
the gay community. Ware has
been associated with anti-gay organizations such as the Family
Research Council and is most closely linked to her work with Americans
for a Sound HIV/AIDS Policy (ASAP), which has since changed its name to
the Children’s AIDS Fund. ASAP was an abstinence-only organization
opposed to most HIV/AIDS education and prevention measures. ASAP also lobbied
against including HIV and AIDS in the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Ware herself is a strong
abstinence-only proponent, lobbying against any effort that promotes
education and protection over abstinence. Ware is also opposed to
condom use. Pat Ware has advocated that the government shift away
funds from groups that serve gays and towards abstinence-only education.
At the 2000 Republican Convention in Philadelphia, Ware referenced the
"innocent babies" infected with HIV, a comment that implied
that others are "guilty" victims of the epidemic.
Joe McIlaney
Dr. Joe McIlaney is the
founder and director of the Medical Institute for Sexual Health
(MISH) in Austin, Texas. MISH is an abstinence and anti safe-sex
organization. Dr. McIlaney is most noted for his repeated attacks
against the idea of using condoms to prevent HIV and other sexually
transmitted diseases. Among his books, McIlaney co-wrote The Myth
of Safe Sex with James Dobson, president of Focus on the Family
(which runs a prominent ex-gay ministry). McIlaney frequently
interprets medical statistics for his own liking, and those
interpretations are often used by anti-gay groups. On November 15,
2001, McIlaney testified before Congress to promote abstinence. McIlaney
also enjoyed influence over the state health curriculum while George W.
Bush was Governor of Texas.
Rashida Jolley
As a young person, Rashida
Jolley has given much to her community. Jolley was named Miss District
of Columbia in the year 2000. She is a college student and sexual
abstinence advocate. Jolley travels with a group of beauty pageant
winners promoting abstinence for Project Reality, an abstinence
organization. After promoting the
administration’s faith-based initiatives, and interning with the
Heritage Foundation, President Bush appointed her to PACHA. A biography
of Ms. Jolley states that she hopes to become an attorney or a
professional harpist. While Ms. Jolley has done much to better her
community, she still does not bring the level of expertise on HIV/AIDS
issues that would benefit the council.
Dandrick Moton
Dandrick Moton, 25, is a man
whose background in HIV/AIDS policy consists of traveling with his
mother as dual motivational speakers to promote abstinence for youth
until marriage.
Anita Smith
Anita Smith is the co-founder
of the Children AIDS Fund (formally Americans for a Sound HIV/AIDS
Policy). Smith has stated that her organization "believes
abstinence is the only true prevention." (Family Voice,
July/August 2001). Smith’s organization lobbied against including
HIV/AIDS status in the Americans With Disabilities Act. The
organization has also pushed to take money from prevention efforts in
the gay community and reassign it to less effective efforts. Smith has
also worked extensively to promote abstinence-only programs. Smith
has appeared in articles by the Concerned Women for America, who have
lobbied to keep gay men off the council. Referencing potential
appointments to the council, Concerned Women for America stated:
"What we have here, frankly,
is a power struggle between homosexual white men who have used all the
government AIDS programs fundamentally to fund their subculture and
political activities, versus the other dominate demographic group
who’s suffering from AIDS, - namely, black women." (Battle
Underway of AIDS Panel, Family News in Focus. October 29, 2001).
Joseph Jennings
Joseph Jennings is a
motivational speaker, and former gang leader, who travels the country
speaking to children about drugs and violence. Jennings’ background in
HIV/AIDS comes mostly from telling teenagers to abstain from sex.
Jennings is a frequent speaker for Acquire The Fire youth
conferences. Acquire The Fire, organized by TeenMania Ministries, promotes
among other issues, religious conversion as a cure for homosexuality and
sexual abstinence until marriage."
12/9/02 <link>
Teen
virgins rose in the 90s (contrary to what some Clinton bashers
complained about)
Newsweek reports that "...According to a
recent study from the Centers for Disease Control, the number of
high-school students who say they’ve never had sexual intercourse rose
by almost 10 percent between 1991 and 2001..." These
statistics are promising to us because we do not believe it is wise for
children or teens to have sex especially under pressure. One of the
teens interviewed in the article hit the nail right on the head with
this, "...Alice, a regular churchgoer who
also teaches Sunday school, says religion is not the reason she’s
chosen abstinence. She fears STDs and pregnancy, of course, but above
all, she says, she’s not mature enough emotionally to handle the deep
intimacy sex can bring...."
At the same time, abstinence only programs are insufficient to prevent
the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Health programs should have
strategies consistent with facts, not beliefs. The facts are that large
numbers of individuals (~ 33% of high school students) continue to have
sex (rather than abstain) - and safe sex alternatives must also be
promoted. For example, the CDC also recently reported that syphilis
cases rose significantly for the first time since 1990. Both the
syphilis data and the teen sexuality trends are available in this
CDC report.
What we also find interesting is that teen sexuality and syphilis
dropped steadily through most of the Clinton years (syphilis since 1994
- no data before that is supplied, teen sex since 1991-93), contrary to
all the nonsense put forth by some right wingers back then about how the
former President's lack of morals would have a terrible impact on
society. If we read the CDC data the way they would have us read it,
Clinton could have argued that he helped bring down syphilis and teen
sex, while Mr. Bush would take the blame for the upsurge in syphilis
since he became President. Of course that interpretation makes as much
sense as those who claimed Clinton's (im)morality would get
automatically transferred to U.S. society. Not to mention the difficulty
we would have in explaining how the (supposed) "greater
morality" under the current administration could explain the continued
boom in the porn business (note how the latter MSNBC article points
out that "...adult filmmakers and actors
aren’t the only ones making money. Mainstream cable companies,
satellite providers and hotel chains that offer in-room adult movies are
cashing in, too, but like to keep their involvement low-profile...").
12/1/02 <link>
Bill
Clinton's New York Times op-ed on the global AIDS crisis
Worth reading.
10/01/02 <link>
The
coming AIDS epidemic
A lot can be done to mitigate this, but an important aspect would be
prevention through safe sex. That is one aspect the Bush
administration however is highly reluctant to push for fear of offending
its Faith-base. We don't have any problems with promoting
abstinence, especially from a personal safety standpoint. But to focus on
abstinence-only approaches, would basically take us back in
time. Time to call Michael J. Fox for a sequel: Forward
to the Past.
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