Bush Asks for Action on HIV/AIDS

WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) – President Bush urged Congress to pass a $15 billion overseas AIDS relief package Tuesday, even as conservative groups continued to press for changes emphasizing sexual abstinence in the initiative.

WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) – President Bush urged Congress to pass a $15 billion overseas AIDS relief package Tuesday, even as conservative groups continued to press for changes emphasizing sexual abstinence in the initiative.The President made a push for approval of a five-year, $15 billion authorization measure that recommends aid directed toward 14 African and Caribbean countries devastated by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The bill is scheduled for a vote in the U.S. House later this week. Bush said that Congress should approve the bill, even though it contains key measures that the White House opposed during committee debates. “Time is not on our side. So I ask Congress to move forward with the speed and seriousness that this crisis requires,” said Bush, who noted earlier that 30 million people in Africa are already infected with HIV. Administration health officials have estimated that the initiative, which concentrates on the so-called “ABC” approach to HIV/AIDS relief — promoting abstinence, being faithful, and using condoms — could prevent up to 7 million new infections. Bush has asked Congress to spend $2 billion on the package in 2004, though the bill scheduled for a House vote this week contains $1 billion more than that request. The White House also initially fought a provision that allows up to $1 billion in spending on the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, preferring instead $200 million per year in contributions. AIDS groups praised the relief package, though some warned that Congress must still appropriate money later this year to fulfill the President’s intentions on HIV/AIDS. “Similar bills have been ignored in the past, even when approved by the full House,” warned Dr. Paul Zeitz, executive director of the Global AIDS Alliance. The White House has also faced pressure from conservative groups who want U.S. efforts to more strongly emphasize abstinence from sexual behavior. The bill’s “ABC” approach, used in Uganda to lower HIV rates during the 1990’s, does not explicitly favor abstinence over monogamy or condom use. “As written, the bill guarantees failure because it does not emphasize abstinence,” said Tom Minnery, vice president for public policy at Focus on the Family, a Colorado-based conservative group. Some groups have also called for an extension of a Bush executive order that bars U.S. aid money from any group that promotes or provides abortions. A draft proposal last year would have extended the order to AIDS groups, and Congress and the White House have so far resisted efforts to put the policy, called the “Mexico City” provision, into the bill. The Mexico City Policy bars U.S. funding of international groups that use non-U.S. funds to perform or advocate for abortion. It has traditionally been used when it comes to funding for international family planning organizations. “We’re not expanding the Mexico City policy to cover this initiative,” White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters. Conservative House members are widely expected to offer amendments to the bill during debate later this week, possibly including limits on money for the Global Fund and language that allows groups actively opposed to condom distribution to still receive U.S. aid money. “I believe the White House will be behind those efforts to improve the bill,” Minnery said. The package remains in flux in the Senate, where talks between Republicans and Democrats broke down weeks ago over issues including U.S. contributions to the Global Fund. Democrats, including Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del. blamed the White House for refusing to compromise on its desire to limit Fund contributions to $200 million per year. A spokesman for committee Chair Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., said that Republican and Democrats are unlikely to agree on overall spending levels or on fund contributions in time for a scheduled Foreign Relations Committee vote in mid May. “That’s still something that may be finally resolved in the markup,” he said.(Source: Reuters, Tue April 29, 2003 05:21 PM ET, By Todd Zwillich)