A&U Magazine Profiles 2004 Democratic Presidential Hopeful Howard Dean, Discusses Views on HIV/AIDS
A&U magazine this month features an interview with 2004 Democratic presidential hopeful former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D), in which he discusses his views on health care policy, AIDS, the Bush administration and his campaign. Dean, who is also a physician, said that his campaign platform includes a plan for a "universal health care system," under which "everyone would have access to health care, so a question of covering HIV and AIDS would not be a question. ... Because people would have health care coverage. Period." Dean said that the Bush administration "is really backsliding on AIDS issues because these people are ideologically driven, not driven by thoughtfulness," adding that the administration's support of abstinence-only education is "foolish." Dean noted that his trip to Burkina Faso last year reaffirmed his position on health education. "The African countries that are really serious in trying to deal with AIDS are really so far ahead of Americans in terms of public education. We really need to be much more frank in a national discussion about sexuality because that's how AIDS is principally spread," he said. When A&U asked Dean what he would like to say to the American public about AIDS, he said, "I hate to sound like a broken record, but education, education, education. ... Do whatever you can to make people understand AIDS prevention and what we must do for people who already have it. Public health education and some kind of health care coverage for everyone" (Plant, A&U, March 2003).
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