RETURN TO MAIN PAGE // Archive for the ‘Barack Obama’ Category
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Today is National HIV Testing Day
As you may know, today is National HIV Testing Day in the United States. To commemorate the day, and to encourage all Americans to get tested for HIV/AIDS, the Obama administration compiled this footage of then-Senator Obama being tested during a visit to Kenya back in 2006.
President Obama actually spoke with some New Hampshire ONE members about his visit to Kenya when he was running for president. Check out our account here .
To find a testing site near you visit http://www.hivtest.org.
-Chris Scott
President Obama meets with Prime Minister Tsvangirai
Today President Obama hosted Zimbabwe Prime Minister Tsvangirai at the White House to discuss the countries’ affairs. According to Politico magazine, during the meeting Obama pledged $73 million in assistance and said:
There was a time when Zimbabwe was the breadbasket of Africa and continues to have enormous potential. It has gone through a very dark and difficult period politically… President Mugabe—I think I’ve made my views clear—has often times not acted in the best interests of the Zimbabwean people and has been resistant to the kinds of democratic changes that need to take place. We now have a power-sharing agreement that shows promise.
-Chris Scott
ONE and Obama in Green Bay
Yesterday President Obama made a visit to Green Bay’s Southwest High School to discuss healthcare. I was part of the ONE volunteers present to thank President Obama for his work on behalf of the world’s poorest people, and encourage him in the fight for the $51.7 billion for the International Affairs Budget.
While we work to improve America’s healthcare system, President Obama understands that we can’t back away from our responsibility to help fight the global health care crisis that sees millions of people dying every year from preventable diseases.
Lieutenant Governor Barb Lawton, Wisconsin’s newest Ambassador for ONE, was also present at the event.
We found new ONE supporters on the spot and excited to “Fan” our facebook page! Join ONE Wisconsin’s grassroots team in Wisconsin by emailing onewisconsin@one.org or on Facebook.
-Jim Weigand, ONE Member, Green Bay, WI
President Obama on working with the Muslim world to fight poverty and disease
In President Barack Obama’s major address today in Cairo, he spoke about his vision for cooperation between America and Muslim-majority countries on important projects to fight poverty by expanding economic opportunity and - in cooperation with the Islamic Conference - to eradicate polio.
From President Obama’s speech “On A New Beginning” given June 4, 2009 at Cairo University in Cairo, Egypt:
On science and technology, we will launch a new fund to support technological development in Muslim-majority countries, and to help transfer ideas to the marketplace so they can create more jobs. We’ll open centers of scientific excellence in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and appoint new science envoys to collaborate on programs that develop new sources of energy, create green jobs, digitize records, clean water, grow new crops. Today I’m announcing a new global effort with the Organization of the Islamic Conference to eradicate polio. And we will also expand partnerships with Muslim communities to promote child and maternal health.
-Aaron Banks
Obama to travel to Ghana in July
As released from the White House yesterday, Obama will visit Accra, Ghana, on July 10 and 11. It will be his first trip to the sub-Sahara Africa as U.S. president. (His first trip to the African continent as U.S. president will be to Egypt in June.)
From the May 16 “White House Release on Upcoming Obama Travel:
“The President and Mrs. Obama will visit Accra, Ghana, from July 10 to 11. While in Ghana, the President will discuss a range of bilateral and regional issues with Ghanaian President Mills. The President and Mrs. Obama look forward to strengthening the U.S. relationship with one of our most trusted partners in sub-Saharan Africa, and to highlighting the critical role that sound governance and civil society play in promoting lasting development.”
How The President is Doing
This afternoon, I watched a webcast on the global health component of President Obama’s proposed budget for 2010 hosted by the Kaiser Family Foundation. ONE’s Senior Director for U.S. Government Relations, Tom Hart, sat on the panel which included distinguished guests such as Zeke Emanuel from the Office of Management and Budget, Tim Westmoreland from Georgetown Law and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Allen Moore of the Stimson Center.
Here are some highlights:
Zeke Emanuel: President Obama’s commitment of $63 billion to global health over the next six years represents a major mark for what he hopes to accomplish during his Administration. The themes underlying the new Global Health Initiative indicate that health cannot be addressed one disease at a time, especially in the developing world. Thinking holistically about health means that maternal and child health, neglected tropical diseases, and health system infrastructure needs to be considered in an integrated manner parallel to interventions for HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. This does not mean that priority diseases are no longer a concern of the Administration – HIV/AIDS is not disappearing off the map. Nearly 75% of the proposed 2010 budget for global health goes to PEPFAR and as the Global Health Initiative progresses, the PEPFAR program will have 70% of the total. While it is not possible to solve all health problems at once, health problems have effects on the entire system. This must be kept in mind as the response to health crises in developing countries shifts from emergency to sustainability. An inter-agency task force is meeting to discuss how best to coordinate the U.S. agenda on global health, and Congress has requested a strategic plan for PEPFAR which will be released in October.
Tim Westmoreland: This budget year is unlike any other because of the financial crisis. While the total federal budget will be approximately $3.5 trillion, a lot of this is already claimed for mandatory programs like insurance. There is about $1.2 trillion available for discretionary spending programs, and global health might be about one half of one percent of this piece of the budget pie. However, Congress has already called for significant cuts to discretionary spending, so it will be hard to find additional money for global health. The President’s budget proposal calls for growth in the resources available for global health. However, even this will fall behind the growth in diseases, and what is needed to address them. It’s the role of advocates not to accept what has been laid out and to talk about what the need is. Percentage growth over an inadequate base is not a good place to start. “Bankers aren’t censoring themselves and advocates shouldn’t either.”
Tom Hart: While the proposal is not enough, in the context of the financial crisis, President Obama’s announcement of the Global Health Initiative was welcome. Over a six year timeframe, it looks possible to achieve good progress with a more comprehensive global health approach, even though some details have yet to be fleshed out. However, it is more sobering for 2010. ONE is looking forward to working with Congress to improve the funding levels in 2010 for PEPFAR and Global Fund as well as to realize the proposals made for the coming six years. When we do this, we need to be politically shrewd and keep the discussions vibrant, and interesting. PEPFAR focused on real goals (treat 2 million people, prevent 7 million infections, and care for 10 million people infected with HIV). ONE encourages the Administration to do the same with this $63b health initiative because otherwise the funding numbers become the end in themselves. Also, the link to national security is a powerful one, and Secretary Gates has been one of the biggest advocates of this.
Allen Moore: The unique economic environment puts even more pressure than normal on increasing foreign assistance. Members of Congress and Senators have to respond to priorities of people back home – spending overseas appears as not focusing on home priorities. All these factors are exacerbated now. As Congress heads into Appropriations, it is clear there is a relatively small amount of money that will go into subcommittees. These subcommittees will pay attention to Obama’s priorities but also have their own priorities to be responsive to constituents. Advocates have to know the facts to be effective in calling for increases for global health.
-Lisa Fleisher
How’s the President doing?
Tomorrow the Kaiser Family Foundation will host a live, interactive webcast featuring an expert panel examining the global health aspects of the President’s recently released Fiscal Year 2010 budget proposal. Among the topics discussed will be the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI). The panel will also discuss other aspects of US funding for global health programs.
ONE’s Director of Government Relations Tom Hart will take part in the discussion, which will be streamed live here tomorrow, Thursday, at 1 pm EST.
-Chris Scott
President Obama’s 2010 Budget on Global Development
Today, President Obama and his Administration released their budget request to Congress for the fiscal year 2010. This gives us a look at the President’s priorities for the year and sets the tone for the Congressional debate about how much money will actually be appropriated. The numbers have just been released and so that is what we have posted here. We will release our reactions and commentary soon. Overall though, a $2.9 billion increase in the key development accounts that ONE monitors.
-Larry Nowels and Josh Lozman
Obama announces global health initiative
Today, President Obama announced a global health initiative that provides a promising outlook for people in the developing world. The President outlined budget commitments for global healthcare that extend over the next six years. That means that today we were able to see a bit more clearly how the United States is going to lead the international community into the year 2015—the deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
Bono, ONE co-founder and lead singer for the band, U2, offered some words of support for this bold initiative:
Today, ‘Doctor Obama’ leads the next chapter in the U.S. response to global health crises, building on the record of results from the previous administration and bipartisan support from Congress” said Bono. “The question is no longer whether we can fight these diseases in the poorest countries, it is how much do we want to do? The President is answering ‘a lot.’ His strategic leadership on these issues is protecting the long-term interests of the people in his own country as well as saving vulnerable lives overseas.
At a press conference this afternoon with Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, the White House committed to boosting lifesaving global health spending by $459 million in fiscal year 2010. The commitment includes a $165 million increase for the global AIDS initiative, the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR), and a $200 million increase towards eradicating malaria in FY21010. In total, the White House announced a $63 billion commitment to global health over the next six years.
President Obama highlighted his reasons for the budget with this statement:
…We cannot simply confront individual preventable illnesses in isolation. The world is interconnected, and that demands an integrated approach to global health.
As a U.S. Senator, I joined a bipartisan majority in supporting the Bush Administration’s effective President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). That plan has provided lifesaving medicines and prevention efforts to millions of people living in some of the world’s most extreme conditions. Last summer, the Congress approved the Lantos-Hyde US Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS Act — legislation that I was proud to cosponsor as a U.S. Senator and now carry out as President. But I also recognize that we will not be successful in our efforts to end deaths from AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis unless we do more to improve health systems around the world, focus our efforts on child and maternal health, and ensure that best practices drive the funding for these programs.
My budget makes critical investments in a new, comprehensive global health strategy. We support the promise of PEPFAR while increasing and enhancing our efforts to combat diseases that claim the lives of 26,000 children each day. We cannot fix every problem. But we have a responsibility to protect the health of our people, while saving lives, reducing suffering, and supporting the health and dignity of people everywhere. America can make a significant difference in meeting these challenges, and that is why my Administration is committed to act.
Today’s success is in part due to bipartisan American leadership on the issue of AIDS and preventable disease. You’ve already read about how Secretary of State Clinton and Secretary of Defense Gates have advocated the need to make development and global health a key component for a more comprehensive and effective U.S. foreign policy.
-Chandler Smith
What We’re Reading 4/29/2009
The Washington Post writes how diseases, from influenza to tuberculosis to cholera and now swine flu, are spreading ever more quickly in an increasingly globalized world. But so, too, are the tools necessary to combat outbreaks of disease: expertise, medicine, money and information.
Washington Post—Diseases Travel Fast, but So Do Tools to Fight Them
Dr. Eric Goosby, a pioneer in the fight against AIDS, is President Obama’s choice to run the American effort to combat the disease globally, the White House announced this week. “The Pepfar program has already saved millions of lives in sub-Saharan Africa and other hard-hit areas around the world,” Dr. Goosby said in a statement. “But significant challenges relating to the prevention and treatment of H.I.V. remain.”
NY Times—Obama Picks Leader for Global AIDS Effort
Zimbabwe’s leaders this week failed for the fourth time in a fortnight to resolve a series of contentious issues threatening to paralyze the country’s shaky coalition government. The crisis talks remained deadlocked after long hours of intense discussions, signaling a serious political problem besetting the new government. A fierce power struggle is raging behind the scenes as President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai intensify their battle for political control.
Business Day (South Africa) - No Aid for Zimbabwe as Leaders Struggle to Overcome Political Impasse
Growing evidence indicates battle-hardened extremists are filtering out of safe havens along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and into eastern Africa, bringing sophisticated terrorist tactics that include suicide attacks. The alarming shift, according to U.S. military and counterterrorism officials, is fueling concern that Somalia is increasingly on a path to become the next Afghanistan — a sanctuary where al-Qaida-linked groups could train and plan attacks against the West.
Associated Press - Terrorists filter into Africa
-Steve Wilson
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The ONE Blog is a daily log of the anti-poverty movement. The site is operated by ONE staff, with frequent contributions from volunteers, members and partner organizations.
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TAGS: Barack Obama, HIV/AIDS, Kenya