On Friday we brought attention to a Gallup poll that indicated the American public considers President Bush’s work in the fight against HIV/AIDS to be his administration’s most successful accomplishment. Yesterday the Associated Press ran an article that serves as an interesting companion piece, examining this issue from an African perspective.

The article offers many different perspectives and opinions, including those in Africa who have been directly impacted by programs such as PEPFAR, to those who feel the focus on HIV/AIDS has distracted too much attention from other diseases.

Excerpts below, full piece here

Like countless Africans, [Sweetness] Mzolisa looks forward to Barack Obama becoming America’s first black president Jan 20. But — like countless Africans — Mzolisa says she will always be grateful to Bush for his war on AIDS, which has helped to treat more than 2 million Africans, support 10 million more, and revitalize the global fight against the disease.

“It has done a lot for the people of South Africa, for the whole of the African continent,” says Mzolisa, a feisty mother of seven. “It has changed so many people’s lives, saved so many people’s lives.”

Some critics, like rockers-turned-advocates Bono and Bob Geldof, have become admirers.

“The Bush regime has been divisive … created bitterness — but not here in Africa. Here, his administration has saved millions of lives,” Geldof wrote in Time Magazine as he accompanied Bush on an Africa trip last February.

“The administration and Bush himself deserve a lot more credit than they received for getting this job done,” says Josh Ruxin, assistant professor of public health at Columbia University.

-Chris Scott