• News
    • Latest news
    • News search
    • Health
    • Finance
    • Food
    • Career news
    • Content series
    • Try Devex Pro
  • Jobs
    • Job search
    • Post a job
    • Employer search
    • CV Writing
    • Upcoming career events
    • Try Career Account
  • Funding
    • Funding search
    • Funding news
  • Talent
    • Candidate search
    • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Events
    • Upcoming and past events
    • Partner on an event
  • Post a job
  • About
      • About us
      • Membership
      • Newsletters
      • Advertising partnerships
      • Devex Talent Solutions
      • Contact us
Join DevexSign in
Join DevexSign in

News

  • Latest news
  • News search
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Food
  • Career news
  • Content series
  • Try Devex Pro

Jobs

  • Job search
  • Post a job
  • Employer search
  • CV Writing
  • Upcoming career events
  • Try Career Account

Funding

  • Funding search
  • Funding news

Talent

  • Candidate search
  • Devex Talent Solutions

Events

  • Upcoming and past events
  • Partner on an event
Post a job

About

  • About us
  • Membership
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising partnerships
  • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Contact us
  • My Devex
  • Update my profile % complete
  • Account & privacy settings
  • My saved jobs
  • Manage newsletters
  • Support
  • Sign out
Latest newsNews searchHealthFinanceFoodCareer newsContent seriesTry Devex Pro
    • News

    What Bush Got Wrong on AIDS

    Mead Over notes the one-sidedness of former U.S. President George W. Bush’s recent appeal to the U.S. Congress for continued support to the global AIDS fight.

    By Devex Editor // 02 December 2010

    EDITOR’S NOTE: Former U.S. President George W. Bush’s World AIDS Day op-ed emphasizes the need for the U.S. Congress to back expansion of treatment access for HIV/AIDS victims supported by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief but fails to make any reference to the other half of PEPFAR’s mandate: preventing HIV infection, notes Mead Over. The senior fellow at the Center for Global Development argues that if Congress follows Bush’s recommendation, this will mean more funding for treatment and much less money for HIV prevention.

    On the occasion of World AIDS Day, President Bush’s has written an op-ed in today’s Washington Post vaunting his President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), telling Congress that AIDS patients supported by PEPFAR “cannot be abandoned” and pleading for continued expansion of treatment access.  Astonishingly, except for a reference to hypothetical future vaccines, the Op-Ed has not one word about HIV prevention.

    Given our fiscal crisis, we cannot do everything.  If we accept that AIDS patients currently on treatment have an entitlement to continued support, President Bush’s call to scale-up treatment likely means less money for the rest of PEPFAR’s mandate – which is to prevent infection so that fewer people will need treatment in the future.  If Congress followed the former president’s guidance, it would increase treatment funding and drastically cut financing for HIV prevention. Is this what he has in mind?

    From the start, PEPFAR has over-emphasized treatment at the expense of prevention (for numbers, see my working paper, Treatment Failure: The Ballooning Entitlement Burden of U.S. Global AIDS Treatment Spending and What to Do About It). Like many of President Bush’s programs (on the domestic front, think the unfunded Medicare drug program) PEPFAR gratified those who benefited directly and immediately while creating massive problems for others to deal with in the future.

    One would think that a “conservative” administration would be prudent, sacrificing in the current period in order to make a better future.  I would vote for such an agenda, especially in a time of prosperity.  But by placing all its emphasis on treatment expansion, without tying the rate of expansion to prevention success, President Bush created the AIDS dilemma we face today: every additional patient placed on U.S.-funded treatment expects U.S. support for the rest of his life. Meanwhile, new infections, and thus the future need for U.S. support, continually outpace the numbers of people placed on treatment.

    U.S. foreign assistance should focus on helping poor countries to help themselves.  With PEPFAR, our assistance instead fuels the accumulation of millions of AIDS patients who are unable to support their own medical treatment, requiring lifelong assistance from the United States for their very survival.  Instead of an AIDS program focused on prevention, which would have both protected and empowered the people of affected countries, PEPFAR has engendered increased dependence on the United States.

    Re-published with permission by the Center for Global Development. Visit the original article.

    • Trade & Policy
    • Global Health
    • Humanitarian Aid
    Printing articles to share with others is a breach of our terms and conditions and copyright policy. Please use the sharing options on the left side of the article. Devex Pro members may share up to 10 articles per month using the Pro share tool ( ).

    About the author

    • Devex Editor

      Devex Editor

      Thanks a lot for your interest in Devex News. To share news and views, story ideas and press releases, please email editor@devex.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

    Search for articles

    Related Jobs

    • Green Climate Fund Programme Advisory Consultant
      United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)
      Denmark | Western Europe
    • Major and Planned Giving Officer - New York
      Action Against Hunger
      New York, United States | United States | North America
    • Individual Consultant: Health Education Capacity Building (Pesantren) Expert
      Jakarta, Indonesia | Indonesia | East Asia and Pacific
    • See more

    Most Read

    • 1
      Opinion: Mobile credit, savings, and insurance can drive financial health
    • 2
      FCDO's top development contractors in 2024/25
    • 3
      Strengthening health systems by measuring what really matters
    • 4
      Opinion: India’s bold leadership in turning the tide for TB
    • 5
      How AI-powered citizen science can be a catalyst for the SDGs

    Trending

    Financing for Development Conference

    The Trump Effect

    Newsletters

    Related Stories

    Global HealthOpinion: The US legacy in HIV is unraveling

    Opinion: The US legacy in HIV is unraveling

    Global HealthAt Vatican meeting, HIV advocates vow to fight past USAID setbacks

    At Vatican meeting, HIV advocates vow to fight past USAID setbacks

    Global HealthA month after stop-work order, Uganda’s HIV response in chaos

    A month after stop-work order, Uganda’s HIV response in chaos

    Global healthWhy PEPFAR has bigger problems than reauthorization

    Why PEPFAR has bigger problems than reauthorization

    • News
    • Jobs
    • Funding
    • Talent
    • Events

    Devex is the media platform for the global development community.

    A social enterprise, we connect and inform over 1.3 million development, health, humanitarian, and sustainability professionals through news, business intelligence, and funding & career opportunities so you can do more good for more people. We invite you to join us.

    • About us
    • Membership
    • Newsletters
    • Advertising partnerships
    • Devex Talent Solutions
    • Post a job
    • Careers at Devex
    • Contact us
    © Copyright 2000 - 2025 Devex|User Agreement|Privacy Statement