February 1, 2008

PEP(FAR) TALK AND NO ACTION

Activists put a sock in it

On Monday President Bush failed to ask Congress to increase funding for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) during his State of the Union speech. That prompted two dozen AIDS activists to deliver socks to Congressional representatives as a way of asking them not to get "cold feet" about boosting PEPFAR spending during the Congressional mark-up on Thursday, Feb. 7. (For instructions about what you can do to help, read the Update action alert below.

The socks, which contained written messages such as "End the abstinence-only earmark" and "Provide funding for health workers," were delivered to the offices of Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE), Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), Sen. Russell Feingold (D-WI), Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA) and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL). Biden also received an over-sized thank-you card for his promise to spend $50 billion to fight global AIDS over the next five years. He made the pledge last October while running for president.

During his Monday speech Bush called on Congress to "double our initial commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS by approving an additional $30 billion over the next five years" during the upcoming PEPFAR reauthorization. Advocates are disappointed because $59 billion is the U.S.' fair share of dollars for AIDS prevention, and universal access to medication for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria—$50 billion of which is needed to fight global AIDS.

"There is a perception on Capitol Hill that $30 billion is enough, but the Democrats seem aware that it's not the case. Biden and Feingold need to step up and recognize what we need is $59 billion over five years for AIDS, TB and malaria," said Kaytee Riek of Health GAP. Riek, along with members of the Student Global AIDS Campaign, Americans for Informed Democracy, American Medical Student Association and the American Jewish World Service delivered the socks to the Congresspeople.

"While there's a lot you can do with $30 billion, our goal is to get ahead of the virus. There are things we have to do and have to do well," said David Bryden of the Global AIDS Alliance Fund. "PEPFAR has had some success with providing basic care, but we have to take it to the next level." That includes ramping up access to treatment, boosting prevention efforts, providing care to orphans, and improving structural improvements in medical care in developing countries where people often don't receive basic care. And though The New York Times convincingly argues that PEPFAR is one of the best things Bush has done, its far-right ideology of abstinence-only funding, lack of acknowledgement of sex workers and harm reduction has seriously hampered its prevention efforts.

The Housing Works AIDS Issues Update is reported, written and edited by Diana Scholl, David Thorpe, Phil Fox Rose, Christine Campbell, terri smith-caronia and Housing Works staff. Send your feedback, leads and story ideas to d.scholl@housingworks.org.

You can reach us by phone at 212-967-1500 x168, by fax at 212-868-4222, and by email at d.scholl@housingworks.org. Housing Works provides housing, advocacy and services to homeless people living with AIDS and HIV. Housing Works is the nation's largest community-based AIDS organization and the nation's largest minority-controlled AIDS organization.

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