President Obama to name Goosby as US global AIDS coordinator

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Source: Reuters

President Barack Obama said on Monday he would nominate Dr. Eric Goosby as the U.S. global AIDS coordinator, picking a former Clinton AIDS official to run one of President George W. Bush's most successful programs.

As ambassador at large and global AIDS coordinator, Goosby would direct the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or Pepfar, and would be in charge of disbursing billions of dollars approved by Congress for AIDS relief overseas.

The program to fight AIDS overseas was often cited as one of Bush's most important achievements. U.S. researchers said recently the program had cut AIDS deaths by 10 percent in targeted African countries, while failing to prevent the spread of the HIV virus that causes AIDS.

Groups involved in the fight against AIDS have been critical of Obama for what they said was his silence on the disease during his first months in office.

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