Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The Politics of AIDS: Engaging Conservative Activists

2004; Council on Foreign Relations; Volume: 83; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/20033824

2327-7793

Holly Burkhalter,

Global Security and Public Health

Twenty years into one of the worst health disasters in human history the AIDS pandemic continues to grow exponentially outstripping prevention efforts and treatment programs; every day it kills 8000 people and infects 13700 more. Although the United States provides fully half the foreign aid aimed at the pandemic the total has been woefully inadequate to check its spread or stop the deaths--until now. Thanks to recent activism by conservative political and religious groups AIDS has finally started to gain foreign policy attention commensurate with its substantive importance. Prodded by its conservative evangelical base the Bush administration has pushed AIDS to the forefront of its international agenda backing record increases in U.S. assistance for AIDS treatment abroad and beginning to address issues such as sex trafficking and the dangers of HIV transmission from unsafe injections and blood transfusions. The future of U.S. global AIDS policy will be complicated however because the conservative groups interested in the issue have different tactical priorities than their liberal counterparts and the broader medical establishment. They have traditionally been hostile to some important AIDS- prevention strategies such as comprehensive sex education and condom distribution and they are much more enthusiastic than others about policies such as the promotion of abstinence. Now that the United States is finally stepping up its efforts to tackle the crisis it would be tragic if their impact were dissipated because of ideological differences between constituencies that are vital to the struggle against AIDS. The time has come therefore for all interested in AIDS policy to unite behind a comprehensive strategy to combat the pandemic one based on the most effective practices in both prevention and treatment. The tens possibly hundreds of millions at risk deserve no less. (excerpt)