February 08, 2006
“While this report shows some advances, the rate of progress is inadequate to meet either the needs for treatment and prevention or the commitment we set out in creating PEPFAR, and the sense of urgency is missing,” said Lee. “In writing the legislation to create PEPFAR in 2003, we set a target of providing treatment for 1,000,000 people by the end of fiscal year 2005. At 471,000, we are clearly behind schedule, and with 5 million people newly infected just this year, we are facing an uphill battle that will only get worse if we do not dramatically increase our commitment.
“To date we have not received any information from PEPFAR evaluating the effectiveness of our prevention messages. How do we know that people who are taught the ABC method are following through? How do we know whether one approach works better than any other? Are people who are taught abstinence actually remaining abstinent? What happens when they become sexually active? Do they tend to use condoms if they were only taught abstinence? This kind of information will help ground our programs in sound science and in the end will improve performance towards attaining our goals.
“I remain strongly concerned about the administration’s emphasis on abstinence-only-until marriage programs as the primary method of HIV prevention. In many countries with large sexually active populations, widespread testing is unavailable. In such an environment promoting a strict abstinence-only message without providing information about risk reduction activities such as condom use is irresponsible.
“Our HIV prevention policies should not be based in ideology. We need a comprehensive and balanced prevention approach that does not deny people information that could save their lives.
“Children represent approximately 15% of all people infected with HIV/AIDS. In many cases they are hard to diagnose and hard to treat. We need to do better at reaching these children. Currently children represent only 7% of people receiving antiretroviral treatment at sites reporting age. At the very least our treatment programs should aim to reflect the global infection rate and provide at least 15% of antiretroviral treatment to children.
“Similarly 15 million children have been orphaned and made vulnerable due to AIDS. While PEPFAR is working to provide basic care services to some of these children we must ensure that our programs provide comprehensive services.
“That’s why I authored and passed legislation last year to specifically focus US government programs on providing a range of care, treatment, and support activities for orphans and vulnerable children, including basic care, increased primary school enrollment, employment opportunities, school feeding, support for property and inheritance rights, psychosocial support, and HIV treatment. (H.R. 1409, the Assistance for Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act of 2005).”
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Barbara Lee Responds to President’s Global AIDS Plan Report
(Washington, DC) – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) responded to the release today of the second annual report of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Lee was a coauthor of the bipartisan legislation that established PEPFAR, which designated $15 billion for the prevention, care, and treatment of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. She also co-authored the Global AIDS and Tuberculosis Relief Act of 2000, which established the framework for the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. To date, the Global Fund has committed $4.4 billion in 128 countries to support aggressive interventions against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. In 2005, she successfully passed legislation to focus U.S. foreign assistance on the impact of AIDS on orphans and vulnerable children in developing countries. The following is her statement:“While this report shows some advances, the rate of progress is inadequate to meet either the needs for treatment and prevention or the commitment we set out in creating PEPFAR, and the sense of urgency is missing,” said Lee. “In writing the legislation to create PEPFAR in 2003, we set a target of providing treatment for 1,000,000 people by the end of fiscal year 2005. At 471,000, we are clearly behind schedule, and with 5 million people newly infected just this year, we are facing an uphill battle that will only get worse if we do not dramatically increase our commitment.
“To date we have not received any information from PEPFAR evaluating the effectiveness of our prevention messages. How do we know that people who are taught the ABC method are following through? How do we know whether one approach works better than any other? Are people who are taught abstinence actually remaining abstinent? What happens when they become sexually active? Do they tend to use condoms if they were only taught abstinence? This kind of information will help ground our programs in sound science and in the end will improve performance towards attaining our goals.
“I remain strongly concerned about the administration’s emphasis on abstinence-only-until marriage programs as the primary method of HIV prevention. In many countries with large sexually active populations, widespread testing is unavailable. In such an environment promoting a strict abstinence-only message without providing information about risk reduction activities such as condom use is irresponsible.
“Our HIV prevention policies should not be based in ideology. We need a comprehensive and balanced prevention approach that does not deny people information that could save their lives.
“Children represent approximately 15% of all people infected with HIV/AIDS. In many cases they are hard to diagnose and hard to treat. We need to do better at reaching these children. Currently children represent only 7% of people receiving antiretroviral treatment at sites reporting age. At the very least our treatment programs should aim to reflect the global infection rate and provide at least 15% of antiretroviral treatment to children.
“Similarly 15 million children have been orphaned and made vulnerable due to AIDS. While PEPFAR is working to provide basic care services to some of these children we must ensure that our programs provide comprehensive services.
“That’s why I authored and passed legislation last year to specifically focus US government programs on providing a range of care, treatment, and support activities for orphans and vulnerable children, including basic care, increased primary school enrollment, employment opportunities, school feeding, support for property and inheritance rights, psychosocial support, and HIV treatment. (H.R. 1409, the Assistance for Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act of 2005).”