Senate confirms Goosby as U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator

Jun 22 2009

The Senate on Friday confirmed President Obama's U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator nominee Eric Goosby, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Goosby - who "served previously in the Clinton administration as director of HIV/AIDS policy in the Department of Health and Human Services and as chief adviser to the president on HIV-related issues" - will now "head the U.S. strategy for addressing HIV around the world, and oversee the implementation of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief" (PEPFAR), the newspaper writes.

Goosby "has more than 25 years of experience treating HIV/AIDS," and most recently served as chief executive officer and chief medical officer of the Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation, which is affiliated with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, according to the San Francisco Chronicle (Doyle, San Francisco Chronicle, 6/20).

Mark Cloutier, CEO of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, said in a written statement, "The world's most vulnerable populations will benefit from Dr. Goosby's guidance through greater access to HIV treatment and prevention programs based on sound science" (San Francisco AIDS Foundation release, 6/19). "What's unusual about Eric is that he already comes into the arena with a lot of global experience," Cloutier added (San Francisco Chronicle, 6/20).