*
Desmond Tutu Attacks President Obama: *For not following President
Bush's example
<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/opinion/21tutu.html?ref=global>.
Having met President Obama, I'm confident that he's a man of
conscience who shares my commitment to bringing hope and care to the
world's poor. But I am saddened by his decision to spend less than
he promised to treat AIDS patients in Africa.
George W. Bush made an impressive commitment to the international
fight against AIDS when he formed the President's Emergency Plan for
AIDS Relief program. Since 2004, Pepfar has spent $19 billion to
help distribute anti-viral treatments to about 2.5 million Africans
infected with H.I.V.
. . .
Under the Bush administration, about 400,000 more African patients
received treatment every year. President Obama's Pepfar strategy
would reduce the number of new patients receiving treatment to
320,000 --- resulting in 1.2 million avoidable deaths over the next
five years, according to calculations by two Harvard researchers,
Rochelle Walensky and Daniel Kuritzkes. Doctors would have to
decide which of the 22 million Africans afflicted with H.I.V. should
receive treatment and which should not.
President Obama has also proposed to cut America's contributions to
the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (which had
been increasing each year since 2006) to $1 billion in 2011, down
from $1.05 billion this year.
Perhaps Archbishop Tutu should start judging President Obama by his
deeds, instead of his words.
(Incidentally, much of the money for these programs is spent right here
in the United States, buying drugs from American drug companies.)
- 12:39 PM, 21 July 2010 [link]
<http://www.seanet.com/%7Ejimxc/Politics/July2010_3.html#jrm8945>
Actions and votes have consequences - and we surely are paying for this one.
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