Trump wants to gut America's progress against AIDS
By Michael Gerson Opinion writer November 30 at 7:40 PM
I am not in the “ignore President Trump’s tweets because they are a distraction from important things” camp. His most recent micro-harangues — accusing (without evidence) a news executive of wrongdoing, hinting that a television host may have been involved in murder and embracing the debunked anti-Muslim rantings of Britain’s alt-right — indicate some type of degeneration. The president seems to be in a downward spiral of anger, compulsion, conspiracy theorizing and prejudice that is alternately offensive and frightening. But the thing is, Trump’s tweets are also distracting from other important matters of governance. And here is one that can’t get lost in the general madness: The Trump administration is proposing a reduction in funding and a shift in strategy in the fight against global AIDS that together would increase infections, cost lives and threaten the extraordinary progress of the past 15 years.
A little history. In January of 2003 — as a cresting wave of death from AIDS swept across sub-Saharan Africa — George W. Bush proposed the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the largest initiative to fight a single disease in history. (I was one advocate for the plan within the Bush administration.) The legislation passed rapidly, with bipartisan support. The effort — including mass treatment, prevention and compassionate care — was continued and expanded under President Barack Obama.
On this World AIDS Day, the results are truly remarkable. PEPFAR supports 13?million people on lifesaving treatment. Thanks to PEPFAR, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria , and the increasing contributions of countries themselves, more than half of people in the world needing AIDS treatment are getting it.
But there is a predictable challenge ahead. Africa is experiencing a historic youth bulge and will have more than 800?million young people by 2050. How fast and far the AIDS virus spreads among them will determine much about the future of the epidemic. And the extent of that spread will be determined (in addition to direct outreach to young people) by the level of AIDS treatment.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-wants-to-gut-americas-progress-against-aids/2017/11/30/1f80f2c0-d615-11e7-b62d-d9345ced896d_story.html
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