Bush Administration, Some U.S. Leaders ‘Out of Touch’ With Effective Methods To Fight HIV/AIDS, Editorial Says
The Bush administration and some U.S. leaders are "out of touch" with the "reality" of fighting HIV/AIDS in other countries, a Des Moines Register editorial says. In addition, the Bush administration is "working against" its pledge to fight global HIV/AIDS by "attaching too many strings" to its funding assistance, according to the editorial. For example, federal aid cannot be used to support needle-exchange programs, and the administration recently banned federal funding to private U.S. groups unless they sign a pledge opposing commercial sex work, according to the editorial. "Moral strings like these will cost lives," the editorial says. If the Bush administration were "serious" about combating HIV/AIDS, it should be "realistic about what needs to be done," including providing prevention education and access to clean needles for injection drug users and condoms for commercial sex workers, according to the editorial. "Tying the hands of agencies may serve the interests of moralizing politicians here at home," the editorial says, concluding, "The trade-off will be more people dying around the world" (Des Moines Register, 4/6).
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