''Make no mistake: This is a big deal, a good thing,' former President Bill Clinton said in praising the Bush administration's $15 billion international AIDS initiative.
He was in Boston delivering the opening plenary address at the 10th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections on the evening of Feb. 10. The conference is the world's premier research meeting on HIV/AIDS, drawing a capacity crowd of 3,900.
The former President defended the Bush administration's decision not to assist all of the nations of southern Africa. He said that people are fleeing Zimbabwe because of political instability, 'I can understand why they [the administration] might not want to put money into it.'
While some have criticized Bush for not dedicating more money to the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS Tuberculosis and Malaria, Clinton was not prepared to do so at a news conference prior to his address.
'I have no problem with the Bush administration funding NGOs [non-government organizations],' he said. 'It's important not to rush to judgment' about faith-based organizations providing healthcare in developing countries.' He noted that Catholic and evangelical groups provide a significant portion of healthcare in some nations of southern Africa.
For Clinton, the important thing is 'to make sure that we have a network that actually serves all of the people in a country.'
'In the beginning, I thought that what was needed was more money, it was as simple as that,' Clinton told reporters. But as he looked more deeply and saw that responses often varied between countries that had the same per-capita income, he saw the importance of leadership and that 'it also had a lot to do with the country's ability to organize systematic responses' to the epidemic.
He used the example of Uganda, which has been able to significantly reduce new HIV infections. And he pointed with both shock and pride to the Bahamas, which with the assistance of his foundation, negotiated a price reduction for their HIV drugs from $3,600 to $500 for one year of therapy. That allows them to offer therapy to seven times more people.
Clinton reiterated his own failure in not pushing for federal funding of syringe exchange programs while President, 'I was wrong on that,' he said. He took pride in the fact that his administration distributed a billion condoms through international programs and he denounced those on the far right who question the effectiveness of condoms in reducing the spread of HIV.
Sandra Thurman, former 'AIDS czar' and now associated with the Clinton Foundation, said, 'It is important to watch the impact [of increased AIDS funding] on women's health' and reproductive health programs. 'We cannot rob Peter to pay Paul' by simple shifting resources from those programs to ones labeled HIV/AIDS.
Clinton feared that the decline in AIDS deaths in the U.S., from 45,000 in 1993 to about 16,000 today, has led young people 'to not think about it much any more … Now everybody thinks that the problem is overseas.' That has contributed to 'the rates going up again' in certain groups in America.
HBHC Groups Set
Howard Brown Health Center, 4025 N. Sheridan Rd, (773) 399-1600, has released a scxhedule of their new group meetings.
Newly Diagnosed Group, Tuesdays 6:30-8; John Weekly X8795 or johnw@howardbrown.org .
PWA Support Group Tuesdays 6:30-8, Paul Dyba X8886 or pauld@howardbrown.org .
HIV+ Youth Support Group: For 16-24 year old men/women/trans. Alternating Thursday, 6-8, contact: Jessica Dubuar X8930 or jessicad@howardbrown.org .
YOUTH Drop-In: Ages 12 through 24. Free medical services, HIV/STD testing, peer education and counseling, referrals, art and food, 2861 N. Clark , Fridays 6-9 p.m. Contact: Yolanda Olszeweski X3305 or youthdropin@howardbrown.or.g
GAMBA Men's Discussion Group: Same gender loving men of African descent to discuss wide variety of issues. Meets 2nd and 4th Wednesday of month 7-9 pm Meets @ Harambee Center. Contact: Antonio Van King X8799, antoniok@howardbrown.org
There are also women's, recovery, domestic violence, trans and many others.
HBHC also recently announced that a new physician would be joining its medical team. Dr. Roger N. Trinh, MD will join Dr. Leigh Roberts and Dr. Tom Barrett in providing primary care as well as specialized HIV/AIDS care at two of the organization's sites. Call (773) 296-8400 or (773) 388-1600.
