Friday, January 16, 2009
Barry / Politics Frist: W. is the Bestest President Ever!
Posted by Bruce Barry on Fri, Jan 16, 2009 at 9:58 AM
It's true that the Bush administration committed copious sums of money to AIDS in Africa, and it may be turn out to be one of the better accomplishments of an astoundingly accomplishment-free presidency. But Frist conveniently ignores the very harsh and legitimate critiques leveled at how Bush has approached this issue. As journalist Joshua Kurlantzick wrote last year, "the administration has spent much of the aid money on unilaterally created programs that neither learn from existing efforts nor respond effectively to Africans' real needs." In a 2007 piece for The American Prospect, Michelle Goldberg explained the problem:
Under the current policy, one third of the money allocated to HIV prevention goes to abstinence-only campaigns, often run by evangelical allies of the administration. But this figure is also deceptive, because the prevention budget includes things like fighting mother-to-child transmission. In fact, a full two-thirds of the money for the prevention of the sexual spread of HIV goes to abstinence. What's left is targeted to groups considered high-risk. HIV-activists have spent the last two decades trying to show that condoms aren't just for prostitutes and the promiscuous; Bush has undone much of their work.Goldberg quotes the UN's Special Envoy for AIDS/HIV in Africa: "The only thing one can categorically say is that the overemphasis on abstinence probably resulted in an unnecessary number of additional infections." In other words, good intentions soiled by ideological obstinacy and scientific myopia. That, Dr. Frist, is George W. Bush's legacy.
Comments (3)
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If this is his shining accomplishment it's pretty weak:
"More than 1.5 million Africans died in 2007 (the U.S. death toll is under 15,000), fewer than one-third had access to treatment, and new infections continued to outstrip those receiving life-prolonging drugs.
"In most African countries, life expectancy has dropped dramatically, and only a few, like Botswana, have started to turn the corner again.
"And with no end in sight to the global financial crisis, there are fears about whether all the funding approved by Congress will be delivered.
"There continue to be detractors who say the U.S. administration should have channeled the money through the U.N.; that it has placed too much emphasis on faith-based groups and abstinence; that it has trampled on women's health by shunning anything associated with abortions; that it has concentrated on AIDS treatment at the expense of prevention; and that it has diverted attention away from bigger killers like pneumonia and diarrhea.
"Helen Epstein, an AIDS expert who has consulted for the U.N. and the World Bank, says both the U.N. and PEPFAR have failed disastrously on prevention by preaching abstinence until marriage and failing to recognize that in some African cultures it is the norm to have several simultaneous long-term relationships.
"She says the money would be better spent on strengthening African health care systems rather than focusing on a single disease."
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Frist is a politician... did you miss that "Senator" part????? What's fricking new? A politician kissing ass is worth printing???
What will you copy from CNN tomorrow? If you want statistics to support your thoughts - you can make them up, too!
Oh ya, we all know Bush sucks. Still.
Frist is a politician... did you miss that "Senator" part????? What's fricking new? A politician kissing ass is worth printing???
What will you copy from CNN tomorrow? If you want statistics to support your thoughts - you can make them up, too!
Oh ya, we all know Bush sucks. Still.
