NPR examines future of U.S. global AIDS strategy

Jan 5 2010

NPR's "All Things Considered" examines the Obama administration's global HIV/AIDS policy. "Instead of relying on one program, such as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief or PEPFAR, [U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Eric] Goosby says the U.S. has a new five-year strategy that would help low and middle income countries build their own health care systems that incorporate international health programs," according to NPR.

Goosby said that a program "completely dependent on offshore resources and not embedded in the public system of the country runs the risk of being ephemeral and dependent on how steady and reliable those resources remain." According to NPR, Goosby also noted that the administration hopes to take "the PEPFAR, the TB, the malaria, the vaccine, the maternal to child health, family planning, reproductive health, platforms, [and] pull them together to actually really create a central package of primary care services."

The story continues: "Talk like this worries AIDS advocates who see the administration broadening the global health agenda without putting much more money in. As it now stands, only half of the people who need [HIV/AIDS] drugs are getting them." NPR includes HIV/AIDS advocates' reaction to the administration's strategy as well as information on the challenge of meeting the needs of HIV-postitive people and the administration's goal of ramping up HIV prevention efforts (Wilson, 1/2).