Comments on: Take Action: Call to Pass PEPFAR

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:24:01 +0000

Elizabeth is on the money in her response to the PEPFAR hype! By supporting PEPFAR, we are supporting George Bush’s antiquated philosophy of Abstinence only sex, a philosophy that has been proven over and over to just worsen Africa’s issues.

It is true that PEPFAR has aided Africa in providing treatment to people that would not otherwize afford it. I just returned from Tanzania two weeks ago and was happy to see that those who were on ARV’s had access to them. After touring several HIV treatment and support centers, the word was good, but it is not just PEPFAR that is putting ARV’s in peoples hands. There are many other private organizations that provide ARV’s without strings attached. We must support these organizations and promote true SAFE sex practices and testing sites in order to truly be of help to our African Brothers and Sisters.

Lets keep in mind that it is not only ARV’s that will keep people with HIV alive, proper nutrition during treatment is also essential for these people to benefit from the drugs. Let your congress person know that PEPFAR is just another Bush agenda. It’s our money after all.

Asanti San!

By: Elizabeth Pisani

Elizabeth Pisani — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 10:17:54 +0000

You say “PEPFAR is working”. Certainly, PEPFAR has put a lot of people on treatment who would not otherwise have had access to it, and that’s a good thing. It has done very much worse on prevention.

The reauthorisation bill drops one of the more counterproductive restrictions on the use of prevention money (the abstinence only earmark) and keeps two others: the anti-prostitution pledge and the restriction on spending money on sterile injecting equipment for drug users. A third restriction is every bit as nonsensical, but perhaps more important in 14 out of the 15 countries where PEPFAR spends most of its cash. No PEPFAR money for contraception.

If you’re going to call your member of Congress, please complain about this nonsensical provision, which serves the interests of a handful of ideologues in the United States, but is hugely damaging for African families.

By: Debbie K

Debbie K — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 10:16:14 +0000

MIssion accomplished….

Thanks for posting this here in the ONE Blog and for sending the email alert around yesterday. I was wondering when they were going to come out. (smile)

Happy B-day to a very special person at ONE and thank y’all for always being there for the world’s poorest people.

ONE HEART, ONE HOPE, ONE LOVE – debbie

By: Jodi Jacobson

Jodi Jacobson — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 19:19:42 +0000

I am really disappointed that the ONE campaign literature on the US global AIDS reauthorization bill does not include any mention of the weaknesses in the bill with respect to funding for prevention activities. Sexual transmission is the single greatest factor in the spread of HIV infections worldwide. Women and youth are the two groups at greatest risk. The current draft bill that came out of committee prohibits funding of family planning organizations in HIV prevention, counseling and treatment unless they comply with onerous restrictions set by the Bush Administration; replaces the abstinence-until-marriage earmark with a reporting requirement that many think will be as onerous and insidious; does not support funding of reproductive health commodities for HIV positive women seeking PMTCT services despite the recommendations by WHO that this is a critical pillar of these services; and maintains highly discriminatory policies against people in sex work for survival.

The ONE campaign’s action alert on this neither informs members of these weaknesses nor of the evidence on the adverse impacts of these restrictions collected by the US Government Accountability Office nor the Institutes of Medicine, but also does not urge people to take responsibility for changing these policies. I find this troubling.

Jodi Jacobson