Presidential Candidates Struck with AIDS Complacency

Contact: media@aidsaction.org or call: 202-530-8030

Washington, D.C. -- AIDS Action released a report today showing that the major presidential candidates as a whole have shown very little initiative on the AIDS epidemic with only Utah Senator Orrin Hatch and Vice President Al Gore having proactive records on AIDS issues. Both have fought for a strong network of care and research in the fight against AIDS. While some of the other candidates have records supporting AIDS funding, there is very little public comment during their accumulated years of public service during the epidemic.

"It's frightening that an AIDS-complacent candidate may lead an AIDS-complacent America into the third decade of the epidemic," said executive director Daniel Zingale. "Senator Hatch and Vice President Gore can teach their co-aspirants that the AIDS fight requires strong leadership and has no partisan boundaries."

The report also reveals that Vice President Gore informed AIDS Action this week that he would support increased funding for HIV prevention, a departure from the Clinton Administration's four year record of flat federal prevention funding. AIDS Action has been leading the fight for this increase.

The leading Republican candidate, George W. Bush, has almost no public record on the epidemic. One area where has been vocal is in his support for abstinence-only sex education, a position that allows for no margin of error among young people at risk of making the mistake of unsafe sex. Against the advice of local AIDS service organizations, he supported enactment of a names reporting system for people with HIV in Texas.

"AIDS Action urges Governor Bush to say more about the fight against an epidemic that he hopes to lead," added Zingale. "Listening to those in his party who have been strong leaders in the fight against AIDS would be the place to start."

Like Vice President Gore, former Senator Bill Bradley has a strong record of support for AIDS investments and policies that support those investments but Bradley had very few public statements about AIDS while a senator. The report also provides historical perspective such as former Vice President Quayle during the late 1980s visiting an AIDS clinic when the drug AZT first became available and asked, "are they taking DDT?"

AIDS Action mailed all the candidates copies of its new anti-AIDS complacency handbook Talking About AIDS So America Listens to help educate them about the fight against AIDS.